Kung Hei Fat Choi

Congratulations and be prosperous. It’s a rainy Oregon day, just how I like it. I thought I’d try to make home made fortune cookies to bring to a Chinese New Year party our neighbors have invited us to on Sunday after church. I bought some factory made fortune cookies at the store, just in case mine didn’t turn out. However, I think my cookies turned out pretty good.

I surveyed everyone here at home for ideas for fortunes. Some of the suggestions were “You like ice cream,” and “We wish you a merry Christmas.” So I made up a few of my own fortunes with the help of Google. I don’t want to give everything away, plus I didn’t save the document, so here are a few of the fortunes I can remember:

Giants 21, Patriots 17

You are unique, just like everyone else.

You will find luck on Flag Day.

You will soon eat a cookie.

I followed the recipe exactly, including sifting the dry ingredients. I made the cookies 4 at a time which was just about right. By the time I got to the fourth cookie, it had started to cool every so slightly and was almost too stiff to fold. So I worked quickly and in batches of 4 cookies. This recipe makes 16 cookies.

2 large egg whites
½ tsp. vanilla
½ tsp. almond extract
3 TB vegetable oil
½ cup flour
½ cup sugar
1 ½ tsp. corn starch
¼ tsp. salt
3 tsp. water

1. Write fortunes on 3 ½ by ½ inch pieces of paper. Preheat oven to 300. Grease baking sheets.

2. Lightly beat egg white, vanilla extract, almond extract and vegetable oil until frothy, but not stiff.

3. Sift the flour, sugar, cornstarch and salt into a separate bowl. Stir the water into flour mixture.

4. Add flour mix into the egg white mixture and stir until you have a smooth batter. The batter should not be runny, but should drop easily off a wooden spoon.

5. Place level tablespoons of batter onto the cookie sheet, spacing them at least 3 inches apart. Gently tilt the baking sheet back and forth and from side to side so that each tablespoon of batter forms into a 4 inch circle.

6. Bake until the outer ½ inch of each cookie turns golden brown and they are easy to remove from the baking sheet with a spatula (14-15 minutes).

7. Working quickly, remove the cookie with a spatula and flip it over in your hand. Place a fortune in the middle of a cookie. Fold the cookie in half, and then gently pull the edges downward over the rim of a glass or the edge of a muffin tin. Place the finished cookie in the cup of the muffin tin so that it keeps its shape. Continue quickly with the rest of the cookies.