I wouldn't recommend rye flour, but rice flour is OK as a filler as is wheat flour. The soy flour is quite cheap usually. The more they are baked and dried out the longer they will last without any special care. Even an egg or two can be mixed in as it too gets baked, so they will not spoil quickly. Bake them at about 300 degrees or a little less. The dogs love crunchy stuff, good for their teeth. You can keep them in the fridge if you are really concerned. I have TWO freezers here and both are quite full. Rarely do I shop at the sup[ermarkets unless something is on sale really cheap. This week, boneless rib eye steaks (resturant quality) for $3.99 a pound. Boneless/skinless chicken breasts $1.69 a pound, but I have plenty of them already. Gotta start using some of my frozen broccoli, and yellow waxed beans from this last summer. Ive got about 5 or so gallon bags of each.

Is it the white pail, "Old Port", by Terra Nova? My rock salt filled mouth speaking says it is probably fine. You could call them and check. Might be a phone # on the package. Or if in doubt, get the other one. Different brands may have a method of curing that needs the fridge. Most cured meats are fine in the temp of a grocery store. Make sure you allow 24-48 hours to soak in water, changing the water a few times. That will remove much of the salt. Usually the best way to tell if it is how you like it is to take a small cube after a few soakings and heat it in a bit of simmering water and taste. (I do the same with salt cod...we like it just barely salty for cakes and almost no salt for a baked filet dish) I highly recommend pease pudding. Lentils in a bag, (i just stitch up a bag the night before out of scrap fabric, muslin, and tie with butchers twine) and simmer along with the meat and vegetables. I've had many Jigg's and some are very salty but it seems a more modern version is less so. Even pouring out the first simmering water that has the salt meat and adding fresh again.

Desiccated coconut has a shelf life of 12-months when kept in an airtight container in a dry place. I vacuum-seal mine and keep it in the freezer and I'm sure it would be fine even a longer than 12-months because vacuume-sealed there's no air to oxidize the fat, and cold temperatures extends shelf life. I use a lot of desiccated coconut and purchase it in large quantities, but it never lasts long enough around here to test the 12-month rule. It will probably go from white to light tan to indicate it's getting "old" and oxidizing. The oil in coconut is the exception to rachelellen's general information. Coconut oil doesn't readily go rancid like other vegetable oils because it's 92% saturated with only 2% polyunsaturated. Saturated fats, in this instance, aren't oxidized easily and don't spoil as quickly as polyunsaturated vegetable oils. It's also resistant to free-radical generation. That's why it was the fat of choice in food manufacturers (especially baked goods) for decades - up until the 1960's and '70's - when cheap vegetable fats took over. -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: desiccated coconut

I find if I use unsweetened chocolate and add my own sugar (vs using bittersweet chocolate), I get a more intense chocolate flavor as a result. So I always use unsweetened baking chocolate. Also, another fan here of the Ghirardelli brand. The OP mentioned brownies. I use unsweetened chocolate in my recipe as I mentioned, but I usually add bittersweet chocolate chips too so the brownies have that indescribable texture of brownie plus the tiny bites of the chips. OK, I got myself "going" now. Luckily, it's another snowy weekend here, perfect for brownies.