The Fortune Cookie

For as long as I can remember I've never had a Chinese take-out dinner without getting a Fortune Cookie in the bag. In fact, on the rare occasion when I don't find this low-fat treat in the bag I've been disappointed. I feel cheated out of a fortune and my lucky numbers. Then there are the times when a substitute has been made with an almond cookie. What? Where's the fortune? I say.

Sometimes when there is a handful of fortune cookies in the bag, I'll save them on the counter picking up a fortune for every day of the week in the hopes that I'll get lucky with at least one of the good fortunes inside. Usually I'll find one that suits my demeanor and hopes for the week.

How many times have you found a fortune inside the cookie that is so ironic or so sublime that you hang it on the fridge in the hopes that maybe, just maybe it will indeed come true!

Then there's the way I open a fortune cookie bag. In my more 'patient' days I used to pull the bag apart to reveal my delicious little snack, but now, I find pleasure in squeezing the bag to hear the *pop*. It also helps to break the cookie to reveal the paper fortune.

Upon doing a little research on the Fortune Cookie it seems though that I've been misled! Did you know that while you'll always receive these little treats from Chinese restaurants, they did not even originate from China, and in fact, while Fortune Cookies are very popular in the United States and in some other countries, you won't find them in China! They are summed up like this, a cookie that was brought over by the Japanese, popularized by the Chinese but largely consumed by the United States!

Did you know that there more than 3 billion Fortune Cookies made a year, and 4.5 million a day! That's a lot of fortunes I'd say! The largest manufactures of Fortune cookies are in California and in Brooklyn, New York.

I find it ironic that tonight's fortune reads this as I was curious enough to investigate the origin of the cookie itself, so, maybe there is something to the fortune inside the cookie. I'm waiting to receive the one that reads, "You'll be a millionaire soon".