You make your own fortune.

My friend Aimee collects fortunes from fortune cookies or herbal tea strings. It's fun to pick one out at random every now and then just for fun. I guess everyone else thinks so too, and that's why we like fortune cookies so much and all. I've always been big on collecting quotes and things like that. The most recent fortune I got said "If your cookie is still in one piece, buy lotto." I like that one a lot. I would have taken a picture and posted it on my fortune blog, but I got it after writing that blog.

But, I digress. My point of this blog is that I compiled about 10 pages of quotes (from this web page) in 10-type font, printed it up, and cut the first two sheets out. The quotes, once cut, are about the size of fortune cookie papers. I put them in a little baggie by my computer monitor and will pull one out every now and then when I feel like getting a little inspiration :).

So I had the great idea to store the 10 page file of quotes online as a downloadable pdf so if anyone even reads my blog, and anyone who reads it would be interested, they could do the little project too. So, if you're out there, reader, and you want a fun project that takes a pair of scissors and 10 sheets of printed paper, here is the link to the download link of the quotes. As always, the link will appear in a new window. When your computer asks if you want to download the file, say yes if you do. It's a zip file because the pdfs were too large and would take too long.

Unzip, print, cut, and voila: crisp and fresh new quotes for you.

Some examples of the quotes are:

A great many people think they are thinking when they are merely rearranging their prejudices
- William James

Life is either a daring adventure, or nothing
- Helen Keller, author, activist & lecturer (1880-1968)

None of us is as smart as all of us
- Warren Bennis, Professor of Business Administration, University of Southern California

If, at first, you do succeed, try to hide your astonishment
- Los Angeles Times Syndicate

Not everything that can be counted counts; and not everything that counts can be counted
- Albert Einstein

There are only two tragedies in life: one is not getting what one wants, the other is getting it
- Oscar Wilde




If you do the project, you can put the papers in a little baggie, keep them in your desk drawer, tie them to ribbons and attach them to gifts or you can even make your own fortune cookies!

Here is a recipe from All Recipes:

INGREDIENTS

* 1 egg white
* 1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1 pinch salt
* 1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
* 1/4 cup white sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Butter a cookie sheet. Write fortunes on strips of paper about 4 inches long and 1/2 inch wide. Generously grease 2 cookie sheets.
2. Mix the egg white and vanilla until foamy but not stiff. Sift the flour, salt, and sugar and blend into the egg white mixture.
3. Place teaspoonfuls of the batter at least 4 inches apart on one of the prepared cookie sheets. Tilt the sheet to move the batter into round shapes about 3 inches in diameter. Be careful to make batter as round and even as possible. Do not make too many, because the cookie have to be really hot to form them and once they cool it is too late. Start with 2 or 3 to a sheet and see how many you can do.
4. Bake for 5 minutes or until cookie has turned a golden color 1/2 inch wide around the outer edge of the circle. The center will remain pale. While one sheet is baking, prepare the other.
5. Remove from oven and quickly move cookie with a wide spatula and place upside down on a wooden board. Quickly place the fortune on the cookie, close to the middle and fold the cookie in half. Place the folded edge across the rim of a measuring cup and pull the pointed edges down, one on the inside of the cup and one on the outside. Place folded cookies into the cups of a muffin tin or egg carton to hold their shape until firm.