In writing a recipe, when should I remove the bay leaves in the process? I'm trying to write down a recipe for Italian sweet sauce that is used for salads but can also be used on pasta and meat. It has bay leaves in it but I'm not sure when to add and remove them?

I've written a first draft of the recipe and method on Food.com.


  2 1⁄2 cups water
  4 cups Italian dressing
  1⁄8 teaspoon salt
  2 bay leaves
  4 tablespoons sugar
  1⁄3 cup paprika
  1 cup five-spice powder
  1 cup Egg Beaters egg substitute
  1⁄2 cup cream
  1⁄3 cup Dijon mustard
  
  Bring the water,dressing &amp; musturd to a simmer.
  Add salt and bay leaves.
  Stir in sugar gradually with the spices.
  Temper the egg beaters and cream with the simmering liquid in the cooking vessel.
  Remove the bay leaves and then add the Egg Beaters and the cream to make the sauce richer and more creamy.
  Reduce to 1/2 and pour over whatever you want to serve this with!


Considering the method I've written in the draft, do these timings for adding and removing the bay leaf make sense or is there a more standard time to add or remove them?
I would put the bay leaves in right at the beginning (with the water, dressing, and mustard) and remove them right before you temper the eggs since you don't want to accidentally grab a bay leaf and whisk it into the eggs when tempering.

Also, just a tip for recipes, list the ingredients in the order you use them in the recipes (that means put the mustard amount right up after the amount of Italian dressing, for instance).