When my grandson was learning to read in kindergarten, he loved fortune cookies. So I started saving them when we ate at Chinese restaurants and kept them in our cookie jar. I sent them off to my daughter with the Christmas presents, using them as packing peanuts. She used them in their advent calendar as the treats for the boys, and they were a hit, especially for our young reader. I still save the cookies, and more recently used them as packing peanuts when I mailed his birthday cake to my younger son. Interestingly, they survive intact thanks to the little cellophane bubbles they are packed in.

Definitely unexpected, Ricky!

It's been a long time, but I used to make fortune cookies for parties. I'd try to make the fortunes funny, and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Love your post, sheilajoyce. Maybe I'll make some for our grandson. :-)

Now there are two words I'd never associate with Chinese! Do they even eat potatoes?

I loved the old Chinese sayings/fortunes inside. New ones are just stupid.

The day before my daughter was born one read, "A dark haired lady will enter your life." and she did!

The one I saw on a baking show was, "I hate fortune cookies." And, another, "Thank you for freeing me from that cookie." Once I got a cookie without a fortune and my son said, "You are Unfortunate."

Jasdip, my girlfriend asked the same thing. I guess since Western fast food has long since invaded mainland China, the answer would now be yes. But in all my years of eating Chinese food, I don't remember seeing potatoes on the menu or as part of any dish.

Fortune cookies, as we know them, were originally Japanese (as we know them, Japanese American). There was a place in San Francisco that made all the fortunes back when. I don't remember the details, but they went out of business awhile back and the weird non-fortunes came. Nowadays, with automated cooking machines, I think interns just type random stuff into the fortune printer. :)

You remind me of a profane but well crafted (and funny) joke in the form of a fortune cookie aphorism. :)

I got a fortune cookie once that said "You will be promoted" and the next day at work I got a promotion. I guess the odds are that sometimes they might get it right. I would feel cheated if a fortune cookie tried to get me to learn Chinese.

Do they even sell fortune cookies in China? I've read that they are unavailable there. I'm pretty sure they were invented in California - some say in Los Angeles and others say in San Francisco, both of which have large Chinese and Japanese populations.

I shared fortune cookies with a group. We read our fortunes out loud, and added: in bed.

my info on fortune cookies is consistent with pllog.

^^I remember a game like that, but we added "between the sheets", which I guess is the same thing.

Fortune cookie are American, even though they have Japanese roots. What I've read is that they're considered American in China. :)

You will be promoted between the sheets?

sounds better than:

You will be promoted in bed.

My favorite fortune found in a cookie said ‘Alas the onion you are eating is someone else’s waterlily’. Sounds meaningful but I think you could interpret it in many ways.

I only made fortune cookies once with a friend’s young son who was in the poop and fart stage of humor at the time. He was also obsessed with his tuxedo so we had a ‘fancy’ dinner party where everyone got rude fortunes. It was fun.