Egg Tart Experiment

So... I itching to use the oven again. And I wanted to use some of the vanilla essence that I had manufactured. I bought a bottle of plain Absolut vodka and soaked some of the leftover vanilla beans I got from my previous Bali trip last year into it. Just leave it in a jar for a few weeks, shaking it about once a week, and here's what I get.

Vanilla + Vodka = Vanilla Essence

I'm thinking that I could probably mix this vanilla into cola and get vanilla coke too. Might try this tomorrow.

Using this off the net recipe as a base, here is my own adjusted recipe:

Makes 20 tarts, Preparation Time 30 mins plus Baking Time 15-20 mins

Ingredients

Tart Shell

• 1 cup sugar
• 3 cups wheat flour
• 250g butter or butter blend
• 1 egg, beaten

Filling

• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 3/4 cups water
• 5 eggs
• 1 dash vanilla essence
• 1/2 cup evaporated milk

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, mix together the confectioners' sugar and flour. Mix in butter with a fork until it is in small crumbs. Stir in the egg until the mixture forms a dough. The texture should be slightly moist.
   
2. Shape dough into 1 1/2 inch balls, and press the balls into tart molds so that it covers the bottom, and goes up higher than the sides. Use both thumbs, pressing gently while going around the mold.
   
3. Combine the white sugar and water in a medium saucepan, and bring to a boil. Cook until the sugar is dissolved, remove from heat. Alternatively, just use hot water and dissolve sugar. Let this cool to room temperature.
4. Preheat the oven to 230°C.
5. Strain the eggs through a sieve
6. Whisk eggs into the sugar mixture. Stir in the evaporated milk and vanilla. Strain the filling through a sieve, and fill the tart shells.
7. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown, and the filling is puffed up a little bit.

Before...

After

I had some left over dough, which i just put into the oven anyway. So that become a cookie. I did fill the shells too much, so I spilt some when putting it into the oven. So kiasu of me... To be frank I think This recipe can make 21 shells, but I only had 20 aluminum tart foils.

I think 20 minutes baking time is pushing it a bit, 15 would have been better, then just let the tarts continue baking in the still-warm oven. I sampled one finished tart with my parents. The bottom is slightly burnt. The custard is nice and firm though.

I still got lots of flour and evaporated milk left. Will probably keep trying this till I finish the flour.

Got some friends coming over for dinner tomorrow. Let's get more guinea pig feedback tomorrow.

Revenge Complete... God of War 3

Finally, I have recently finished God of War 3. Yes I know, this is not a new game title. Forgive my tardiness.

So after finishing God of War 1 and 2 on PS2, how does the third installment on PS3 stack up?

This installment begins with the Titans scaling Mt Olympus, trying to squash Zeus and his buddies. From the get go, this does not give any sense of possible victory on the part of the Titans. They are just slow, lumbering, giants trying to bite off more than they can chew.

One really cool feature is that the Titans themselves become your battle arena, not just your opponents/allies. You can run along their arms or bodies fighting off smaller sized enemies. With the camera view zooming in and out to show you the scale of your environment, it's truly a technological marvel to see the Santa Monica Studios team achieve this very seamlessly.

Itsy bitsy Kratos on Cronos' arm

Another game mechanic that blew me away was the flights up the massive Icarus vents throughout the gameplay. Coupled with the exciting soundtrack, the flights are amazing to watch, frustrating to get a hang off, immensely satisfying when overcome. You've got to play it to believe it.

The violence in this game has also been upped several notches. Not only can you beat the daylights out of your foes, you can have your victim's eye view of the beating! That's sick. And cool at the same time.

Kratos! You've got something stuck in your teeth! So stop beating me up and clean it!

You can also rip out various body parts for your pleasure. One of your opponents is Helios, God of the Sun. I had to laugh out loud during this sequence, because after ripping out his head, you can use it as a torchlight. That's cruel. That's sick. And cool.

Kratos Massage Service... Guaranteed to relieve all headaches

Besides fighting the Gods of Olympus, you get to boogie with Hercules too. After settling issues with Herc (i.e. beating him up) you get a really cool looking pair of boxing gloves. This is my 2nd favourite weapon after the default Blades. They are slower that the other weapons but pack a heavier punch. Plus they are in animal motifs!

Meet Simba and Mufasa... say hello to my pretty babies

Gameplay was far easier than what I recall for God of War 1 and 2. That disappointed me somewhat. The ending plot was also kind of weird, because Kratos harakiri-ed himself, releasing hope to the destroyed world. They do not show Kratos' corpse at the end of the tale, and there are still other Gods roaming around (e.g. Aphrodite and Anthena). If Athena is anything to go by, this means all the murdered Gods can still make an impact to the story.

Still highly enjoyable, but short of being a masterpiece in my view.

Rating:

Old Snake in Metal Gear Solid 4

Acquired a PS3 console this year. So far, quite enjoyed the games on this console. Then again, the games are really pricey (RM150 and above), so I have to buy sparingly!

One of the ones which I really enjoyed from PS2 was Metal Gear Solid 3. So how does MGS4 stack up?

In this final installment of the metal gear series, you control Old Snake. Nanomachines have gone awry and aged this super soldier dramatically. Nothing an occasional bottle of Regain (not to be confused with hair growth serums!) and some Boss smokes won't cure in an instant.

Perk me up baby...

All the elements of stealth players have come to love return. A great improvement is the OctoCamo suit that auto changes the camouflage for you. In MGS3, this had to be micro managed quite often, so with this improvement this task is no longer a hassle.

You also get a handy remote controlled robot to fool around with. You can use it to pick up mines, go scouting, electrocute enemies and make distracting noises. Very handy indeed.

There are a lot more mecha enemies this time in MGS4. But there are a lot more interesting allies as well. At times, the storyline is too emo for my liking, but it's a small price to pay for a very intricate and detailed plot. One of the most emo good guys is Jack @ Raiden. No guns for this hero, just a sword will do. He's all about protecting Snake with no regard for his own safety. Later on he loses both his arms, but still battles with his sword in his mouth. He does get replacement arms at the end though, so I guess it all worked out.

I am the Lightning in the Rain... I am Raiden

Part of the mecha enemies in the game are the Beauty and the Beasts. Young girls who have been mentally scarred by war are placed into high tech battle suits to help your enemies make your life difficult. Defeating them usually rewards you with a full HD video cutscene of the girls doing... well, it's difficult to describe. Go YouTube if you'd like to see some of the action.

They really do look like this in the game. Really.

Of course, there is also some genius humour in MGS. You can now hold up an enemy and search him for goodies. Hit the button combos in the right time, and you can knock him out with a strike to the family jewels.

Oh my!

There is also this hilarious scene with Psycho Mantis at the end involving memory cards and vibrations. I won't spoil it for you... go play the game yourself.

I found myself playing till 2am sometimes, just so eager to get to the next scene or chapter. That's always a sign of a winning game. Cutscenes are detailed and aplenty, and only after you complete your mission. Almost all characters are complex and pull you in to the story. A lot of oldies make an appearance too, so that adds to the game's nostalgia greatly. I spent many a time restarting or redoing part of my mission to see if there were other ways to get past certain obstacles. I did resort to some FAQ help sometimes, but hey, that's also the mark of a winning game. Who would want something so straight forward right?

I am sad that this series has come to an end. I had a lot of enjoyable hours with Snake and will miss this dearly. We should all give this soldier a rest I guess and move on to look for some new 'classics'.

Snake, I wish you all the best and give the cigarettes a rest!

Overall rating: