I've stopped making them entirely, as husband has found a brand of canned that he likes. It isn't that they are difficult, just that they are time consuming and a jar of the leaves makes about two million (OK, I'm -- holy boloney, I've forgotten how to spell exagerate. What is wrong with me?) and I wind up with enough to feed a small platoon who actually like them. My husband says he loves them, as do my friends, but after a party, I have a dozen or more left, and it isn't worth the trouble (actually, most are scarfed up by any guests of southern European/North African background, so they must be good). I lightly steam a rice/nut mixture in a white wine-lemon-garlic liquid. I've occaisionally made them with some ground lamb in them as well. My husband does truly love them, but only so many can be eaten by a man with blood sugar issues. So I buy a can now and then.