[1] In 1945, Handy began serving as principal of the MGS,[7] the first Asian to hold the position,[1] and the following year restarted the secondary classes which had been suspended during the Japanese occupation.

The recipes covered a broad range of cuisines, including chapters on Chinese, European, Indian, Indonesian, and Malayan dishes, and Handy became well known in Malaysia and Singapore.

[9] While there had been earlier cookbooks printed by organizations for their membership, these usually were adaptations of European dishes with ingredients locally available in Singapore.

Handy was a home cook, who used Asian methods, like steaming and stir-frying, utensils, locally available produce and included those processes in her book.

[11] After her retirement, Handy wrote articles for Female, a local women's magazine, mostly about cooking and updated the recipes in her book for subsequent publications.