Dickenson drafts 'Blueprints for Creative Entertaining'<\/p>\n
By Rita A. Widiadana<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Entertaining guests is really not an easy job.
\nIt needs accurate planning.<\/p>\n
Margaret H. Dickenson has all the entertaining answers. After
\naccompanying her diplomat husband, Canadian Ambassador to
\nIndonesia Lawrence T. Dickenson, in 28 years of foreign service,
\nshe has accumulated a lot of important know-how in entertaining
\nguests.<\/p>\n
\"I am eager to share my little knowledge and experience with
\nother people, so I put together my ideas in this book,\" said Mrs.
\nDickenson pointing at her first and newly-released book titled
\nFrom the Ambassador's Table, Blueprints for Creative
\nEntertaining.<\/p>\n
The idea to compile a book occurred to her in l993, the year
\nher husband celebrated 25 years of foreign service, she recalled.<\/p>\n
\"Congratulations and how do you feel?\" she asked her husband.
\n\"Very happy. Maybe I'll get a a plaque from the government, I
\nhave a lot of friends around the world, beautiful art
\ncollections. They are our treasures,\" replied the ambassador.<\/p>\n
What else? Her husband was happy when she told him of her idea
\nto write a book. As a nutritionist, she chose food and food
\npreparation as the main subjects for her book.<\/p>\n
The process of writing a book actually took only about a year,
\nshe explained. \"I woke up at 4:30 every morning to write the
\nbook. During the process I received so much advice from my
\nhusband, friends and editors from my publisher,\" she recollected.<\/p>\n
The book should have been launched in September l995, but at
\nthat time they were involved in many tasks, she added.<\/p>\n
However, it was only last February that she was ready to
\ncontact her publisher, Times Editions in Singapore. A team of
\neditors from Times immediately came to Jakarta to take pictures
\nof the food and for the cover of the book at the ambassador's
\nresidence.<\/p>\n
\"It was a very quick operation and I gave my credits to the
\neditor team from Times Editions. The book was ready two months
\nago,\" said the ambassador's wife.<\/p>\n
In her maiden book, she reveals her recipe for a successful
\noccasion. \"I prefer to call it blueprints because it contains
\nstrategies on planning, organizing and orchestrating an entire
\noccasion,\" explained Mrs. Dickenson who celebrated her 51th
\nbirthday last Wednesday, a day before the launching of her book
\nat The Grand Hyatt Hotel.<\/p>\n
The 240-page book is divided into four sections: introduction,
\nblueprints, menus, and recipes. Each section explains steps on
\norganizing an event from invitations to menu planning, table
\nsettings, working schedules, etiquette, etc.<\/p>\n
The book also contains 170 recipes for hors d'oeuvres,
\nappetizers, soups and salads, main courses and a number of basic
\nrecipes.<\/p>\n
\"Over these 28 years, our focus on personalized entertaining
\nand my love for developing unique recipes have flourished with
\nexposure to different peoples and cultures,\" she explained.<\/p>\n
Citing an example, she mentioned her Pancake Sachets recipe, a
\ncombination of French crepes and Russian caviar which she
\npresents in a Korean dim sum style.<\/p>\n
Many recipes and menus represent creative fusions of
\ninternational cultures and tastes, she said.<\/p>\n
\"In addition to a knowledge of food, its qualities, and how it
\nbehaves, I understand the value of sound culinary techniques and
\nstandards,\" said Mrs. Dickenson, who is a food and beverage
\nadviser to managers and personnel of five-star hotels in
\nIndonesia and other countries.<\/p>\n
She is also a gastronomic counselor for Indonesia's National
\ncommittee of La Chaine des Rottiseurs (an international gourmet
\nclub).<\/p>\n
\"Both professionals and ordinary wives could use the book. I
\ndon't want to make the book look so complicated. This is really
\nnot a complicated one,\" she explained.<\/p>\n
Although virtually all the recipes could be classified as
\ngourmet, most allow for great flexibility in culinary skills and
\ninterpretation, she explained.<\/p>\n
Her recipes allow much of the food preparation to be done in
\nadvance, or in stages.<\/p>\n
The book, she said, is meant to encourage readers to be more
\nwell-organized when they hold an event.<\/p>\n
Guests generally recognize that a sense of communication is
\nbeing established through the food as well, she continued.
\nSuccessful entertaining is the skill of establishing effective
\ncommunication between host\/hostess and guests, among guests and
\nalso between guests, the food and surroundings, she added.<\/p>\n
\"Don't try to impress people with what you cannot afford. You
\ndon't have to hold a big event. The most important thing is the
\nlove you put into it,\" she said.<\/p>\n
Food talks to people if it is presented originally and with
\npersonal touches, she maintained.<\/p>\n
Rural Background<\/p>\n
The recipes and style of presentation contained in the book
\nalso reflect her rural background.<\/p>\n
\"I grew up on a farm in Northern Ontario, Canada. From a very
\nyoung age, my responsibilities ranged from milking cows and
\nworking in vegetable gardens to doing household tasks,\" she
\nremembered.<\/p>\n
Her Ukrainian father died when she was five years old. \"It was
\nmy mother who taught me how to work hard. Work is our ethic,\" she
\nrecalled.<\/p>\n
Cabbage rolls, pirozhki, homemade bread, and warm hospitality
\nwere always abundant in her home. \"Food is highly valued,
\nreligiously respected, and certainly never wasted, \" she said.
\nShe began to cook at the age of six. Her fascination for creative
\ncooking was stimulated by easy access to a variety of fresh farm
\nproduce.<\/p>\n
Her interest in food continued at University of Guelph where
\nshe received a degree in nutrition. She also met Lawrence T.
\nDickenson, her husband-to-be, on her first morning on campus.
\nThey married three years later. Now the couple has two adult
\ndaughters, both senior executives in Canadian companies in
\nOttawa.<\/p>\n
The couple's first foreign posting was in Vienna, Austria,
\nwith accreditation to Hungary and Rumania, followed by a
\ntemporary assignment in Belgrade in former Yugoslavia. Other
\nassignments included Moscow in the former USSR; the European
\nUnion for which they were stationed in Belgium; Cairo in Egypt;
\nSeoul in South Korea; Kuwait with accreditation to Oman in Unite
\nArab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar; and now Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"Whenever we to go to a foreign country, we try to flourish
\ninto the fiber of the local society. We are enthusiastic to learn
\nabout local social and political life as well as its culture,\"
\nshe said.<\/p>\n
She also joined various professional and charity organizations
\nin every country her and her husband have been posted.<\/p>\n
In Indonesia she belongs to the Canadian Women's Association,
\nthe Women's International Club of Indonesia and the Canadian
\nBusiness Association. She is also an active member of Indonesia's
\nCenter for Corporate Leadership.<\/p>\n
She has been on the panel of judges at several design
\ncompetitions, including the 1995 Asia Fashion Design Competition
\nand the l996 World Gold Council's competition in Indonesia and
\nwas one of the judges for the 1996 Great Chefs of Asia.<\/p>\n
The combination of having a good husband, daughters, friends
\nand strong religiosity has shaped her personality, she added.<\/p>\n
\"I do a lot of things because of the support of others.
\nWithout their contributions, God's determination and my
\npersistence, I believe I could not do my jobs including writing
\nthis book,\" she smiled.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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