Thanks--I'm not a great photograher--I don't really know all the ways to use my digital camera. They were fun to make (perhaps moreso because the vines are all over the farm and it was easy to go out and cut the leaves--I cut them without the stems so I didn't have to remove stems in the house--and I know there are no pesticides on them or residue from exhaust fumes). If I'm not too busy in September and the birds don't eat all the grapes, I'll have to make some wild grape jelly.
And, rather than freezing the leaves (freezer space will be at a premium soon), I figured I might as well make the dolmas. I have to make some rice ones before the leaves get much bigger--the veins in the larger leaves were a bit stringy, but I didn't use very many leaves that were bigger than my hand (I wear a size 7-8 glove).
It is hot and humid here now--but hopefully it will cool off a bit this week--or at least at night--so I can make some more one evening this week if I can meet my deadlines and not have to work much past noon each day.
My mom used to make them using jarred leaves. The only difference I noticed is that the ones I blanched weren't as fragile when rolling--as I remember the jarred ones, they would tear sometimes when you rolled them. (My mother who hates to cook would make rice-filled dolmas and keep them in a jar filled with olive oil--go figure). I didn't have any of the leaves tear. And, I didn't have any "bad" leaves that I couldn't use.
While I was out cutting the leaves, I started a big pot of water to boil. When I came in, I washed the leaves and turned off the water. I let them sit in the water for 3 minutes, and then I drained them and then I put them in ice water for about 5-7 minutes to chill. Drained them and then I used a tea towel. I laid out 3 leaves, blotted them, put the filling on each leaf, and then rolled the three. Repeated 33-34 times <g>.