I'd vote for a small cast iron, too, especially since that's what she's requested. I'm old. And I have a daughter who, most of the time, thinks she's smarter than me. And I have to admit, she IS pretty smart. She got her smarts SOMEWHERE, and I think it was from me, so sometimes her attitude rankles me a little. If she was smarter than me, she'd hide the fact that she thinks she's smarter than me as well as I hide the fact that she annoys the heck out of me sometimes. But I do use cast iron skillets and I love them, even though with arthritis in my wrists, the bigger ones are hard for me to manage. Here's an idea, though. Get her a cast iron skillet, which she requested, and then get her something else that you might think she'd like better. Let her use both. If it's her decision, she might well be won over!

jterrilynn: yes, that looks like a good price to me. It looks similar to the all clad holiday promotion that efs referred to above (amazon has it for the same price). I think this is an excellent choice. The induction compatible thing opens a whole new can of worms... I went with induction when I remodeled and needed new pots and pans to work with it. I have a couple of cuisinart pans that are induction compatible, but I really had to be careful to make sure that they were magnetic. If I remember right, they were just switching over their tri-ply line to be induction compatible, so some were and some weren't (I think I was looking around this past May). Because of this, I didn't feel that I could order the cuisinart on-line - I had to buy local and bring a magnet. The cuisinart is cheaper than the LeCreuset tri-ply, but the quality difference is very noticeable. Like warmfridge, I really like the LeCreuset tri-ply. But all clad is the gold standard for most regular folk, so it a really nice gift. However, if you have a LeCreuset outlet near you it is worth checking out. They are having 25-35% off sale on pretty much the whole store through Nov 24th - linked below. Just a heads up that not all of the all clad is induction compatible. I was told at Williams Sonoma that the all clad copper core was induction compatible but would not work as well as the all clad SS (I think the copper core costs more, anyway). Here is a link that might be useful: LeCreuset outlet stores

I found this in a search after recently buying a Prima Matera small saute for induction. From my observation the smaller sauce pan or saucier may be fine because they spread the heat fast and up the walls. However the larger pieces are not as even heating along the bottom as I would like and would probably consider something else in the larger diameters if this was important to you.

I refuse to spend a lot for a non-stick skillet and bought a couple from Ikea. I look for a thick disk for even heating as clad tends to be more expensive. I don't have birds but never preheat it when empty, and only on low/med heat. That's the temp I preheat my SS pans, so it's automatic for me. Cast iron or carbon steel are my high heat pans. When they lose their non-stick ability, but aren't peeling, I give them a scrub with baking soda paste. Good as new. The Ikea pans have held up very well for a few years, now. They're used for eggs and reheating leftovers (best way to crisp up pizza crust and melt the cheese!)