Itsy Bitsy Foodies

I’m thankful for Bella (our next-door neighbor/babysitter who is a senior in high school!)  I’m thankful for drawing with Gramma.  I’m thankful for Mormor’s muffins.  I’m thankful for jumping on Morfar.  I’m thankful for you, Mama, for Daddy, for Kendry (little brother), for Keona (our dog), for Portland and for the whole company!  I’m thankful for bushes.  I’m thankful for Daddy’s tool set.  I’m thankful for playing with Daddy.   I’m thankful for me, Cooper…

Fortune cookies have been on my list for a while now so when DailyBuzz Moms announced the Thanksgiving Kids Table 9×9 I thought that it was the perfect opportunity to make “I am Thankful for...” Fortune cookies.

I’ve made French tuile cookies in the past but I have formed the thin cookies into ice cream cone cups, elegant little cylinders and the traditional tile (tuile) shape.  This time I decided to experiment with the fortune cookie shape.  I love my reliable tuile recipe and I had no real reason to try another, but I went ahead and tried Martha Stewart’s tuile recipe since I was looking at her website for tips on how to shape the fortune cookies.  I love how she flavored them with almond.

There are several ways to do this project.  Prior to making the cookies you and your kids can discuss what everyone is thankful for and then place the personalized messages into the cookies as you shape them.  Or, you can make the cookies in advance and have one of the activities at the kids table be writing “I am thankful for…” messages and threading or slipping them into the cookies.  You can write generic Happy Thanksgiving notes or you can write messages to each person at the table for specific place setting favors.  If you personalize the messages and insert the “fortunes” into the cookies as you form the cookies, I recommend using masking tape to label each muffin tin with the respective person’s name.  This way you can keep track of the personalized cookies and then set the table accordingly.

This is a fun and meaningful project if it’s just your immediate family or if you have a large group.  And some of the adults might like to contribute Thanksgiving messages as well.

I love hearing what kids have to say and I think that it’s always a good thing to get us all, young and old alike, thinking about all that we can appreciate and be thankful for.  I guess it goes without saying that with a four-year old (who just turned 4!), we got some touching notes and some silly ones.

To fit the Thanksgiving theme I made a variety of almond-flavored cookies and pumpkin pie-spiced cookies.  The pumpkin pie flavor was subtle because I didn’t want to add too much pumpkin puree and mess up the delicate cookie’s texture.  Even with only a couple tablespoons of puree they didn’t harden up as much as the others but they were still good.  In the future, I probably won’t bother with adding pumpkin puree but I would still add the pumpkin pie spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and cloves) for a Thanksgiving-spiced cookie.

Though we made them for Thanksgiving, personalized fortune cookies are a festive place setting or party favor for many occasions.  Depending on the occasion and your tastes, you can flavor your fortune cookies with vanilla, maple, peppermint or any other extracts (or spices).  And you can also dip the finished cookies into melted chocolate and nuts, shredded coconut or other toppings.

*If you have older children they may want to help make the fortune cookies.  However, to prevent burns for both adults and kids, please take caution when forming the cookies because they must be handled while they are still hot.

…I’m thankful for family.  I’m thankful for being healthy.  I’m thankful for you, Cooper.  I’m thankful for you, Kendry.  Happy Thanksgiving!

**Though associated with Chinese food here in the US, fortune cookies were actually invented by immigrants in America based on a traditional Japanese cracker and they are not popular in China.