Dickenson drafts 'Blueprints for Creative Entertaining'

Dickenson drafts 'Blueprints for Creative Entertaining'

By Rita A. Widiadana

JAKARTA (JP): Entertaining guests is really not an easy job.
It needs accurate planning.

Margaret H. Dickenson has all the entertaining answers. After
accompanying her diplomat husband, Canadian Ambassador to
Indonesia Lawrence T. Dickenson, in 28 years of foreign service,
she has accumulated a lot of important know-how in entertaining
guests.

"I am eager to share my little knowledge and experience with
other people, so I put together my ideas in this book," said Mrs.
Dickenson pointing at her first and newly-released book titled
From the Ambassador's Table, Blueprints for Creative
Entertaining.

The idea to compile a book occurred to her in l993, the year
her husband celebrated 25 years of foreign service, she recalled.

"Congratulations and how do you feel?" she asked her husband.
"Very happy. Maybe I'll get a a plaque from the government, I
have a lot of friends around the world, beautiful art
collections. They are our treasures," replied the ambassador.

What else? Her husband was happy when she told him of her idea
to write a book. As a nutritionist, she chose food and food
preparation as the main subjects for her book.

The process of writing a book actually took only about a year,
she explained. "I woke up at 4:30 every morning to write the
book. During the process I received so much advice from my
husband, friends and editors from my publisher," she recollected.

The book should have been launched in September l995, but at
that time they were involved in many tasks, she added.

However, it was only last February that she was ready to
contact her publisher, Times Editions in Singapore. A team of
editors from Times immediately came to Jakarta to take pictures
of the food and for the cover of the book at the ambassador's
residence.

"It was a very quick operation and I gave my credits to the
editor team from Times Editions. The book was ready two months
ago," said the ambassador's wife.

In her maiden book, she reveals her recipe for a successful
occasion. "I prefer to call it blueprints because it contains
strategies on planning, organizing and orchestrating an entire
occasion," explained Mrs. Dickenson who celebrated her 51th
birthday last Wednesday, a day before the launching of her book
at The Grand Hyatt Hotel.

The 240-page book is divided into four sections: introduction,
blueprints, menus, and recipes. Each section explains steps on
organizing an event from invitations to menu planning, table
settings, working schedules, etiquette, etc.

The book also contains 170 recipes for hors d'oeuvres,
appetizers, soups and salads, main courses and a number of basic
recipes.

"Over these 28 years, our focus on personalized entertaining
and my love for developing unique recipes have flourished with
exposure to different peoples and cultures," she explained.

Citing an example, she mentioned her Pancake Sachets recipe, a
combination of French crepes and Russian caviar which she
presents in a Korean dim sum style.

Many recipes and menus represent creative fusions of
international cultures and tastes, she said.

"In addition to a knowledge of food, its qualities, and how it
behaves, I understand the value of sound culinary techniques and
standards," said Mrs. Dickenson, who is a food and beverage
adviser to managers and personnel of five-star hotels in
Indonesia and other countries.

She is also a gastronomic counselor for Indonesia's National
committee of La Chaine des Rottiseurs (an international gourmet
club).

"Both professionals and ordinary wives could use the book. I
don't want to make the book look so complicated. This is really
not a complicated one," she explained.

Although virtually all the recipes could be classified as
gourmet, most allow for great flexibility in culinary skills and
interpretation, she explained.

Her recipes allow much of the food preparation to be done in
advance, or in stages.

The book, she said, is meant to encourage readers to be more
well-organized when they hold an event.

Guests generally recognize that a sense of communication is
being established through the food as well, she continued.
Successful entertaining is the skill of establishing effective
communication between host/hostess and guests, among guests and
also between guests, the food and surroundings, she added.

"Don't try to impress people with what you cannot afford. You
don't have to hold a big event. The most important thing is the
love you put into it," she said.

Food talks to people if it is presented originally and with
personal touches, she maintained.

Rural Background

The recipes and style of presentation contained in the book
also reflect her rural background.

"I grew up on a farm in Northern Ontario, Canada. From a very
young age, my responsibilities ranged from milking cows and
working in vegetable gardens to doing household tasks," she
remembered.

Her Ukrainian father died when she was five years old. "It was
my mother who taught me how to work hard. Work is our ethic," she
recalled.

Cabbage rolls, pirozhki, homemade bread, and warm hospitality
were always abundant in her home. "Food is highly valued,
religiously respected, and certainly never wasted, " she said.
She began to cook at the age of six. Her fascination for creative
cooking was stimulated by easy access to a variety of fresh farm
produce.

Her interest in food continued at University of Guelph where
she received a degree in nutrition. She also met Lawrence T.
Dickenson, her husband-to-be, on her first morning on campus.
They married three years later. Now the couple has two adult
daughters, both senior executives in Canadian companies in
Ottawa.

The couple's first foreign posting was in Vienna, Austria,
with accreditation to Hungary and Rumania, followed by a
temporary assignment in Belgrade in former Yugoslavia. Other
assignments included Moscow in the former USSR; the European
Union for which they were stationed in Belgium; Cairo in Egypt;
Seoul in South Korea; Kuwait with accreditation to Oman in Unite
Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar; and now Jakarta.

"Whenever we to go to a foreign country, we try to flourish
into the fiber of the local society. We are enthusiastic to learn
about local social and political life as well as its culture,"
she said.

She also joined various professional and charity organizations
in every country her and her husband have been posted.

In Indonesia she belongs to the Canadian Women's Association,
the Women's International Club of Indonesia and the Canadian
Business Association. She is also an active member of Indonesia's
Center for Corporate Leadership.

She has been on the panel of judges at several design
competitions, including the 1995 Asia Fashion Design Competition
and the l996 World Gold Council's competition in Indonesia and
was one of the judges for the 1996 Great Chefs of Asia.

The combination of having a good husband, daughters, friends
and strong religiosity has shaped her personality, she added.

"I do a lot of things because of the support of others.
Without their contributions, God's determination and my
persistence, I believe I could not do my jobs including writing
this book," she smiled.