Bay leaves!

They're one of the characteristic flavors of gumbo (bay laurel grows all over Louisiana) and traditional New England poultry recipes, especially Thanksgiving turkey (it must have been a popular trade good; the laurel native to New England isn't related to bay, and isn't edible).

I just made a delicious stew, a food I haven't had in years, and found the bay leaf in my second spoonful. "I found the bay leaf! I get to make a wish," I told John. "I think that's what my mom told us to get us not to eat the bay leaf. No wait – she told us they'd cut up our insides." "My parents said they were poisonous," said John, an explanation that makes even less sense.

So, are bay leaves dangerous? Is there any legitimate reason we were so strongly taught not to eat them?

Wiki sez: "In the Middle Ages it was believed to induce abortions and to have many magical qualities."

if you eat a bay leaf a bay tree will grow in your stomach

Hahah imagining my parents worried their children would accidentally miscarry if they ate the bay leaf.

They're pretty tough, chewy, and indigestible, but surely not poisonous or that harmful if you ate them.

Was out with a big group for traditional chinese fare a few weeks ago - giant steamy tureens of incredibly spicy broth full of bits and chunks. In a bowl of "Beef with Special Sauce" I came across something that looked like a well-cooked flat slice of beef, so I ate it. It wasn't beef. Sort of woody and pithy - not a mushroom either. The guy sitting next to me ate an even larger piece of it. Then the guy on the other side of me asked the waitress what it was. Orange peel.

I say you definitely get to make a wish after that.