To Mdm, with regret

I am beginning to wonder if I got my priorities right when I was in school.

I went to a convent school that prided itself for turning out well-groomed, all-rounded little ladies, and so we learnt Art appreciation, Chinese calligraphy, social dance, personal grooming, and various musical instruments. Being a good student, I also did rather well in all kinds of academic subjects, like Chemistry and Biology and Literature.

Nothing,
nothing,
nothing

equipped me with the essential lifeskills though.

One of the most memorable moments during my Home Economics lessons was my teacher screaming at me, 'You numbskull!' I don't really blame her. It must have been really stressful trying to teach butterfingers how to sew, or clean an oven, or make batter. Home Economics lessons went past in a blur, and seriously, teenage girls have other things on their minds you know. We didn't think that one day we are going to be buying utensils, or choosing curtains or doing other matronly tasks like that. no, no, no, my principal told us we were made for great things in life.

And so now, I am doing some revision just in case, but cooking isn't a subject one could simply mug up. I went to look at books with titles like 'Really Simple Dishes', or 'How to Cook Everything Basic', but they don't help much. Problem is, I have no idea what the ingredients listed are. What are caraway seeds...curryway seeds...carryaway seeds? Then, another recipe calls for 'a roasting chicken'. What do they mean? Is it roast chicken, or a raw chicken meant for roasting? Why don't they just write recipes with things you can find in NTUC?

Then Boon One helpfully told me that modern women don't cook. We are too busy. Phew! Ok, that's one problem settled then. But what about the curtains?