Cathy Classics by Cathy Guisewite for November 21, 2012

Sheesh. Didn’t Cathy take Home Economics in high school? She’s old enough to have been around when it was a required course for girls (and when it was opened to boys around 1974, only for us it was re-named “Bachelor Living”).

I wish I’d taken it, and I’m an old guy.

No Home Ec here, but if I have a question I goggle it! lol Happy Day all.

I’m of the age when home ec was mandatory for girls and boys were required to take “shop,” but I didn’t learn to cook in home ec. I learned watching and cooking with my mother.

She had one favorite saying in the kitchen: “If you can read, you can cook.”Most comprehensive cookbooks (Joy of Cooking, Betty Crocker, Meta Given’s, etc) have information which answer a lot of Cathy’s questions.

Some of the older editions have information on how to choose produce, how to dress game, (Muskrat stew, anyone?) what to substitute when you don’t have an ingredient, which herbs go best with which meats, etc., how to set a table, basic etiquette,

Now, you can find a lot of that info on the internet, Even though I rarely cook from recipes anymore (I prefer a laisse-faire approach) reading those old cookbooks can be a lot of fun.

When my son was growing up, I was determined that he would know basic living skills: how to do his own laundry, how to cook simple meals, how to balance a checkbook, how to change a flat tire, etc. Part of being a parent is passing on life skills. We shouldn’t depend on schools to do that.

When I was in middle school, girls and boys had to take a semester of shop and a semester of home ec. Though I learned most of my cooking skills from the Food Network.

When I was at school the girls did Cookery and the boys did Technical Drawing. Trouble was, the Cookery room only had four cookers for a class of about twenty, so if you weren’t quick with your preparation, you were still trying to start your food cooking when we all had to sit down and take notes on recipes etc. Which also meant that we couldn’t go and give the pot a stir.

I’ve never forgotten – or admitted to – the day when I was among the last to set my mince and tatties to cook – and I could smell it beginning to singe long before we had the writing done.

By the end of the lesson my meal was a blackened mass, welded to the saucepan, and there was no way I could possibly get it clean in the two minutes we had to get to our next class. So . . . I just shoved it to the back of the shelf and ran.

I have wondered sometimes, over the years, who was the unfortunate who received my disaster to cook her next lesson in . . .

America’s Test Kitchen and Cook’s Country on PBS. Great shows for the cooking challenged.

I too am old enough to have experienced the segregated home ec and shop classes. Fortunately my mother made sure I learned basic cooking skills and how to do laundry. Dad made sure I understood budgeting and taught me how to iron shirts. Shop class – taught me that woodworking was not one of my skills. Just caught up on a weeks worth of Cathy. Belated congratulations to lightenup on achieving 10000 comments! Was away last weekend helping my older daughter move. Seems I drove a lot of kilometres with too little sleep but managed to survive. She is now finally settled into her new apartment. Reasonably happy since she had to give up her 3 bedroom house for a 2 bedroom apartment. She figures she will buy a house once she finds out more about her new city – like where the good areas to live are. Was really hoping to find Aaron and Dr. Billy were back but I guess we just have to keep hoping they are all right.

Hi Cathyites!! I didn’t learn to cook in Home Ec, but I did learn to sew because my Mom didn’t ever have a sewing machine. I learned to cook from watching my Mom & Grandma, but also from friends who were checking out things like spices, which my Mom never used.

Back when I was in high school (1983-1987), boys LIKED taking home ec classes . . . not because they wanted to learn how to cook, sew, etc., but because that’s where all the girls were!!!!! ;-)

Aaron & Dr. Billy: Love and prayers to you both . . . wherever you are! Hope you come back soon!!!

Good evening, lightenup, lightenupjr., lil’lightenup, Dr. K.F.G. (wherever you are!), Susan, lindz.coop, rgcviper, gmforde, serenasakitty, kittycatpawsare, hendelca, Gator007, legaleagle48, mollie05, Anona Mouse, catsarge10, millie p, soonergal, Bronzepony, Molly mcgee, Shyygirl27, lenteraluna, Violet Bay, AndiJ, BJIllistrated, ncalifgirl58, summerdog, Terri, ruizuno1, Wolf Emperor, FinnyGirl, ellisaana, marmar in MI, J. Short, samfran60, SplendensPluviaNemus, PhoebeDog and all the REST of the “Cathy” fanatics joining us here tonight. As always, it’s really great to “see” you all and if you’re new here . . . WELCOME TO CATHY’S NUTHOUSE!!!!! GLAD YOU’RE JOINING IN ON ALL THE FUN!!!!! ;-)

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Cathy friends! Love and blessings to you ALL!!!!!

Like ellisaana I had home ec but didn’t learn anything useful for making Thanksgiving dinner. I learned that from watching my aunt, asking questions and trial and error. Some things I make her way, some I added my own twist to.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I have to make cornbread for my dressing and bake a cake before I can go to sleep.

I taught meself how to cook i after all those years doing so i got pretty good at it . Happy thanksgiving to all my cathy friends out there Hi Aaron and Dr. Billy miss you both hope you are doing well.

When in doubt, turn to the expert, huh, Cathy?