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Way With Worlds: A Team Effort

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people identity

(Way With Worlds is a weekly column on the art of worldbuilding published at Seventh Sanctum, Muse Hack, and Ongoing Worlds)

A lot of my discussions on world building here involve solo efforts, single-person worldbuilding. I’m pretty much speaking to you as a “you” because . . . well that’s my chosen audience focus; single readers and solo world builder. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t take some time to discuss group world building efforts.

Group world building is actually an activity a lot of us engage in. We may do it as part of a defined team, or be a Game Master who takes a lot of player input. We might be running a shared RP, or we may be just having an idea jam at a convention. I don’t think we do it as often as solo world building, but we do it.

We might not even realize we’re doing it, we just think of “well we’re cooperating” or “she’s helping me out.”

So I wanted to take some time to discuss group world building – it’s advantages and challenges. I’ve been there as well, as have many of my friends, and I figure it’s worth exploring.

Besides, maybe you’ve not considered it and it might be for you . . .

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Rooster Sauce: Take 2

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My second go at making Sriracha.  This version is now almost too hot, but has a far more complex and satisfying taste than the all jalapeño version.  Using multiple forms of pepper, and probably more garlic, really added a lot to the dish.  Really all I think I have to do now is adjust the heat, which probably means halving the habanero and adding one more red pepper.

Note when the mash ferments, the scent changes radically over time – initially it had a sharp and rather unappealing scent, but it mellowed and matured into something far more unified in scent and, obviously, taste.

Please note when chopping peppers – wear gloves and goggles.  Yes, goggles – I keep a pair of goggles for when I cook with irritating foods.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2 lbs red chili peppers; Fresno, jalapeño, or Serrano
  • 4 habanero peppers
  • 1 red pepper
  • 3 tbsp maple syrup
  • 8 Tbsp crushed garlic cloves garlic (24 cloves)
  • 1 Tbsp salt
  • ½ cup red wine vinegar
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  1. Remove stems and split jalapeño and habanero peppers. Dice the red pepper.
  2. Puree all ingredients but red wine vinegar and soy sauce in blender/food processor into a coarse mix.
  3. Place mix in airtight jar. Leave for seven days, stirring once a day with a wooden spoon.
  4. Place mixture into pan with vinegar, bring to boil, simmer 5 minutes, let cool. Stir.
  5. Place mixture into a strainer over a bowl. Press mixture with wooden spoon repeatedly to drain all the liquid.
  6. Add soy sauce to drained liquid. Pour liquid into bottle via a funnel.
  7. Store in refrigerator. It should keep for three months, maybe as long as six.

 

Respectfully,

– Steven Savage
http://www.musehack.com/
http://www.informotron.com/
http://www.seventhsanctum.com/

Steve’s Update 5/22/2015

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Certainly not a lot of these lately?  That’s because of a lot of crazy:

  • Work changes, though I expect to have that clear up soon.
  • Some health crises in the family.  That keeps things on edge, needless to say.

I’m managing to extract myself, but to be fair I’ve seriously underestimated my workload in and out of life.  Which is a good lesson, but  . . . damn.

Now on the plus side as I extract myself I’m getting back to my projects and hope to have more soon.

 

Respectfully,

– Steven Savage
http://www.musehack.com/
http://www.informotron.com/
http://www.seventhsanctum.com/