I 'accidentally' bought some dried betel leaf at the Asian grocer.
I knew they had some use in cooking, so it was one of those things
"buy now, research later".

http://i36.tinypic.com/vni9sk.jpg

Apparently these are probably different then bo la lot (Vietnamese)
or cha plu (Thai). Since they are dried, they are probably meant
for chewing, not cooking. Which makes sense since they were right
next to the Thai "chewing tobacco" (which I also bought).

http://i35.tinypic.com/9uw8q9.jpg

Would there be any culinary use for these dried betel leaves?

Speaking of "buy now, research later", I couldn't resist this
package of .... [drum roll].....

http://i36.tinypic.com/jgtsts.jpg

Any suggestion for this one (other than 'throw it away')? I pretty
much owe my Asian culinary skills/knowledge to shopping the markets
after a few too may stuff drinks. This was no exception.

-sw