On 2008-05-12, ChattyCathy > wrote:
>
> FWIW, I don't recall ever having seen a recipe that calls for grinding bay
> leaves either........

It's common in Indian cooking. I recently talked to my daughter and she
finally was able to pick me up a bag of whole spice garam masala. It has
all the whole spice seeds like fennel, coriander, etc, and whole bay leaves.
The idea is, you grab a handful and toss it in the grinder or mortar. Very
fresh and you can always pick out whichever single seeds/leaves you may need
for other recipes. A one 1 lb bag costs about $4 and provides about 6=10
spices in a single mix. Very handy.

nb