I wish I had this book in college! There was room to improve my bread, spam & pickles diet! It's so good for beginners. Let me show a few snippets from one of the recipes:

Cover the potatoes with water in a large pot with a lid. Bring the water to a boil over medium-high heat, then turn the heat down to medium and set the lid askew so that steam can escape.

To the point, but detailed.

If the fork pierces the potato easily, it’s fully cooked. If not, boil for 5 more minutes. It’s fine if they’re a little overcooked, but undercooked potatoes are awful.

That's always my question when I'm doing something new! I'm not going to be 100% accurate. Is it better to be wrong this way or that? What are the consequences? How important is this?

Add a generous amount of salt as you stir. Potatoes are very bland without salt!

Highlights pitfalls that are obvious to experienced chefs. Until you start cooking, you're used to using the salt shaker on your plate. You've never tasted unsalted potatoes!

These are from a simple (but novel) potato salad recipe. While the recipes are really practical and cover the basics, they are surprisingly creative and varied! "Chocolate Zucchini Muffins", "Filipino Chicken Adobo", "Deconstructed Cabbage Rolls", and so on. I'm no longer a beginner cook and don't have to eat super cheap, but I still plan to try some of these!