I found it quite confusing trying to figure out what to do. After foraging in the two map areas that were open, I tried putting some of them into the cauldron but had no idea what to do next. There didn't seem to be any way to brew anything. And even though there were some recipes available in the market, I had no money to buy them. Starting the player off with a few starter recipes would be a good idea.
Also, the processing table just added an icon to some of my items which then vanished after I sorted my inventory. I can't tell if it had any sort of effect.