I wrote this recipe and love all the variations that everyone has tried. Honestly, have tried all of them myself. I do like DILL in the recipe and I'm loopy over fresh parsley. If you like that Middle-Eastern taste try it that way too. You can also substitute dry herbs if needed. Some people like the mint others don't- it's just personal preference. What's funny is when I wrote the recipe ALL RECIPES edited out to substitute coffee filters for cheese cloth. Everyone figured that out on their own! Cheese cloth is not a standard stock item in my pantry either. I take two filters in my small tupperware strainer and overlap them. When rushing I put a weight over the yogurt while it's draining (a can of soup) and it helps speed up the process. ALSO, as someone else suggested you can squeeze the water out of the cucumbers. I almost always do that after I peel, scoop out the seed prior to grating. I do prefer the greek yogurt that comes strained already - it is a HUGE time saver. If your local market doesn't have it, try a local health food store. For those that are budget conscious (if the Greek stuff isn't on sale) I use the Plain store brand yogurt and just drain it the night before. Enjoy!!!

Reviewed On: Oct. 20, 2009

I thought this was a decent basic recipe for Hot Dog sauce. It is a sauce, not a chili as some reviewers seemed to be looking for more of a chili flavor. My batch turned out well, the texture and consistency was perfect and I substituted BEER for the water. This gave a sweet, deep flavor to the meat. I added a little more cumin, chili powder, salt and used ground red pepper for more of a bite. I will make this again and saute some onions first. I think a tbls or two of tomato paste could also help make this a little thicker for those who found it too thin.

Reviewed On: Aug. 25, 2009

I love this recipe but do not like Apricot or the lemon in them, SO I use the basic pastry recipe, substituted Rasberry Jam- you can use seedless or seeded. I find the seeded Jams Ooze less our of the cookie. I omit the almonds in one of my batches since my kids don't like the nuts. (it makes them easier to roll) After I roll the cookie I roll the it prior to baking in Demerara Washed Raw Cane Sugar which gives the cookie that sweetness with a little crunch. Everyone seems to rave over that little extra step. As with one other reviewer here... I ALWAYS bake on parchment with these cookies or if you can use a silpat mat if you have- the cookies lift right off of the paper.

Reviewed On: Sep. 27, 2008