And now you've exposed my secret identity. When I first joined GardenWeb, I tried to register as "Janice" or "Jan" but those names were taken. So I used an old nickname from my childhood "Jannie".

A belated Happy Birthday from me too! So glad you had a nice birthday, Joan.

I vote for 'veggin'~~I am a big vegger and encourage every one to take it up as a sport;)

I do not normally use dried galangal, as I keep a supply of frozen galangal in the freezer, but I have used it on occasion. I was going to write some instructions on how to use it, but did not get around to it before I sent the package. I did not expect the package to reach you until tomorrow! I normally boil the dried galangal and/or soak it for a long time in the fridge (like overnight) and then strain it out. Even when I use fresh galangal, I remove it unless it is pureed into a paste - it has the texture of rope and is extremely fibrous. If you puree it after boiling/soaking it, you may still have to strain out the fibers, before using the liquid. It will give off its flavor when simmered in a soup. I also strain out lemon grass when I cook with that and remove the kaffir lime leaves before serving. Galangal does have a very distinctive flavor that is different from ginger although somewhat similar. Anyway, it will be yet another flavor for you to experiment with. Dried galangal is a fairly good substitute for fresh - at least the flavor is closer than ginger. The lime leaves are probably fresher than what you would find in a store - I picked them on Sunday. You may want to freeze some of them, as Agmss recommended.