to start a new era in his life
The meaning of this idiom is that you should never feel hopeless when times get hard or difficult because difficult times always lead to better days. The difficult times are like dark clouds that blocks the sun. When we look at the edges of the cloud more closely, we can see the sun shining there like a silver lining.
Unclear question. I infered you are referring to the grammatical structure/usage of some expressions in the sentence.
Answer:
It is an Idiomatic expression.
Explanation:
The expression "following the crowds" is idiomatic, meaning It should be understood figuratively.
In a sense, as used in this context it implies there's a price for doing whatever others do pertaining to how long they cook. So one must maintain his own cooking time schedule not following the crowd.
An incorrect one. "Her leftover chocolates" is a subject.
