1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup salad oil
1/2 cup egg whites (whites of about 4 large eggs)
1 tablespoon water
2 tablespoons vanilla

Prepare "fortune," poems or love notes to include in cookies.  Cut or fold the paper so that it's approximately 1 inch by 3 inches.

Mix all the dry ingredients together.  Then add oil and egg whites, beating until smooth.  Beat in water and vanilla.  Drop 1/3 cup of batter onto a greased baking sheet and spread evenly into a 10-inch circle.  Bake only one or two at a time in a 300-degree oven for about 14 minutes or until light golden brown.  (If underbaked, cookie will tear during shaping.)  With a wide spatula, remove one cookie at a time from the oven.

Working quickly, flip the baked cookie onto your hand.  (Use a towel or wear cotton gloves to keep the cookie from sticking to your hand).  Place a fortune in the center of cookie and fold it in half.  Do not crease the cookie.  Then fold the two ends of the cookie toward each other and hold together for a couple of minutes while the cookie becomes firm.  Repeat steps until all the batter is used.

Makes six large fortune cookies.