Okay, please forgive me. My Fortune Cookie post, in honor of the Chinese New Year, is a little late, but the Ram/Goat/Sheep of the Year said it was the thought that counts.
Any who (a popular transitional saying in China), my Fortune Cookie recipe can be found on page 69 of my cookie cookbook, “Today is a Great Day for a Cookie.” By the way, “Today is a Great Day for a Cookie” has been downloaded a whopping (a common description used for emphasis in China) 170 times over the last six months. So enjoy your free copy by clicking on the “Cookbook” tab at www.CookiesbyDave.com today.
My Fortune Cookies in action.
Well, my personal favorite insert for Fortune Cookies are select passages from the Book of Proverbs. I tell you, that King Solomon really had a knack (a word used a lot in ancient China) for sayings that work, when placed inside a tasty cookie treat. Here are my Top Ten favorites (without much thought given to selection or ranking, just gut instinct), enjoy and Happy (belated) Year of the Ram/Goat/Sheep type animal.
#10 – Friends mean well, even when they hurt you. But when an enemy puts his arm around your shoulder – watch out! Proverbs 27:6
#9 – The weight of stone and sand is nothing compared to the trouble the stupidity can cause. Proverbs 27:3
#8 – Charcoal keeps the embers glowing, wood keeps the fire burning, and troublemakers keep arguments alive. Proverbs 26:21
#7 – If you want to stay out of trouble, be careful what you say. Proverbs 21:23
#6 – Too much honey is bad for you, and so is trying to win too much praise. Proverbs 25:27
#5 – Being cheerful keeps you healthy. It is slow death to be gloomy all the time. Proverbs 17:22
#4 – Don’t take it on yourself to repay a wrong. Trust the Lord and he will make it right. Proverbs 20:22
#3 – Getting involved in an argument that is none of your business is like going down the street and grabbing a dog by the ears. Proverbs 26:17
#2 – If someone is angry with you, a gift given secretly will calm him down. Proverbs 21:14
#1 – You might as well curse your friends as wake them up early in the morning with a loud greeting. Proverbs 27:14
I love the idea of putting Proverbs in the cookies! My extended family will not eat fortune cookies due to the Bible expressly forbidding fortune telling, which I think is carrying it a bit too far. I mean, are you truly consulting a cookies for advice, or are you simply being entertained by a delicious treat?
I’ve never made fortune cookies, but you have made me want to try.
Lisa,
You should so give the fortune cookies a try. They are very easy to make, although only one note of caution and one piece of advice.
Caution: they are very time consuming, since only about two fit on a baking sheet and when you take them out, you need to work quickly to insert the cookie and fold. So two is just about the right number to juggle.
Advice: invest in some cheap cotton “butler” gloves. They are very inexpensive (I just Googled them and purchased a small box full) and really take the pain out of handling the hot cookies 🙂
I am so glad you enjoyed the Proverbs aspect to the fortune cookies. So many verses in that book are suitable for fortunes that it really makes for a great supply of material, plus in a lot of instances they make for good conversation. Like you noted, it also takes any mysticism out of the whole fortune cookie thing for anyone concerned on that front.
Enjoy and give them a try. They are certainly worth it.
– Cookie Dave
PS – one other thing to note… they end up much more “soft” than traditional restaurant fortune cookies (probably the lack of preservatives), so don’t be too surprised by their chewy nature.