An enameled, cast-iron Dutch oven. They're heavy, they last a lifetime and when you make your first pot roast, you may find yourself addicted to cooking for life.

June ought to be called the freshest month. College graduates move into their lives, newlyweds set up house, and a new crop of cooks hits the kitchen.

New York food writer Brooke Parkhurst has been there. When she graduated from Davidson College in 2002, she moved to New York for a career in TV journalism. Instead, she became a novelist with “Belle in the Big Apple,” and married a chef, James Briscione.

Today, Parkhurst and Briscione have their own cookbook, “Just Married & Cooking” (Scribner) and a website, justmarriedandcooking.com.

Parkhurst’s first advice for new cooks is simple:

“Get in the kitchen, begin with simple meals and practice.

“Don’t be overly ambitious. Don’t go for the chateaubriand for your first time. Work your way into things. Good results will encourage you to keep cooking.”