Have you ever thought much about fortune cookies? They're my girls' favorite part of ANY Chinese meal, but did you know they didn't even originate in China? Many people believe they were first made in San Francisco in the early 1900's by Japanese immigrant, Makoto Hagiwara, at The Japanese Tea Garden. However, some historical digging has them dating back MUCH earlier (still in Japan). The NY Times even got into the exciting debate on the origin of the fortune cookie with this fun article. 

Originally there were only 23 "fortunes" that were largely poetic or self-help in nature. Today there are over 10,000 possible fortunes that you could receive when you finish your Chicken Chow Mein. 

Several months ago, my husband and I opened two crispy cookies after a wonderful meal of General Tso's Chicken and Beef With Broccoli to find these... 

Mine was pretty poignant, seeing as how I'm having my first book published (EEEEEEEEK!), but Steve's is pretty interesting. We wrote the date on the back, so we'll see what happens on 3 months from that date..... Stay tuned!