diff --git a/middleware/templates/context.go b/middleware/templates/context.go
index 10e06f63..78df7732 100644
--- a/middleware/templates/context.go
+++ b/middleware/templates/context.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package templates
 import (
 	"io/ioutil"
 	"net/http"
+	"time"
 )
 
 // This file contains the context and functions available for
@@ -11,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 // context is the context with which templates are executed.
 type context struct {
 	root http.FileSystem
+	req  *http.Request
 }
 
 // Include returns the contents of filename relative to the site root
@@ -22,3 +24,29 @@ func (c context) Include(filename string) (string, error) {
 	body, err := ioutil.ReadAll(file)
 	return string(body), err
 }
+
+// Date returns the current timestamp in the specified format
+func (c context) Date(format string) string {
+	return time.Now().Format(format)
+}
+
+// Cookie gets the value of a cookie with name name.
+func (c context) Cookie(name string) string {
+	cookies := c.req.Cookies()
+	for _, cookie := range cookies {
+		if cookie.Name == name {
+			return cookie.Value
+		}
+	}
+	return ""
+}
+
+// Header gets the value of a request header with field name.
+func (c context) Header(name string) string {
+	return c.req.Header.Get(name)
+}
+
+// RemoteAddr gets the address of the client making the request.
+func (c context) RemoteAddr() string {
+	return c.req.RemoteAddr
+}
diff --git a/middleware/templates/templates.go b/middleware/templates/templates.go
index 25e14216..946d5906 100644
--- a/middleware/templates/templates.go
+++ b/middleware/templates/templates.go
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ func (t Templates) ServeHTTP(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) (int, error
 		for _, ext := range rule.Extensions {
 			if reqExt == ext {
 				// Create execution context
-				ctx := context{root: http.Dir(t.Root)}
+				ctx := context{root: http.Dir(t.Root), req: r}
 
 				// Build the template
 				tpl, err := template.ParseFiles(t.Root + r.URL.Path)