I use coconut oil as our main fat for cooking/baking, and I'm here at the bellybutton of "over there" (Kansas), but I wouldn't use any brands that are hydrogenated like Copha. That's as bad (for your health) as using hydrogenated shortening, which is what we use instead of Copha. Believe me, if the general population WANTED Copha, it would be readily available. Coconut oil is more commonly used by the Hispanic community around here, and LouAna brand is carried at Wal-Mart as well as our local grocery store. For years I had to order it because it wasn't available locally. I also use Lyle's Golden Syrup. I CAN get it locally - even out here in the middle of nowhere, and use it in any recipe calling for light syrup because I avoid high fructose corn syrup (like Karo syrup) these days. I use Steen's 100% Cane Syrup for dark syrup. More information and recipes using evaporated milk at the link below, as well as other brands of evaporated milk web site. -Grainlady Here is a link that might be useful: Carnation Evaporated Milk

If you read carefully, it usually says 'best by' on canned items. That is not an expiration date, but signifies that taste/texture may be less than ideal. Canned items do tend to last for quite some time. http://99percentinvisible.org/episode/best-enjoyed-by/ "...Over the years we’ve lost track of what these labels meant in the first place. We’ve come to associate the dates with safety, when in fact, they’ve always been about freshness. As much as we might want them to, the dates on our food are not going to tell us if we’ll get salmonella or e-coli. Most date labels are arrived at by conducting taste tests. Does a product still taste good on day 4? Day 5? And yet today, according to a report that Emily Broad-Leib co-authored, a majority of consumers believe that eating food past it’s sell-by or use-by date is a risk to their health. And as many as 90% of Americans throw out food based on date labels at least occasionally...."

Ohhh, I was just going to use that crust from Ohiomom's cranberry-pear pie...it was so good! Now I am thinking that ginger snap crust sounds too good to pass up!! Alas, I'm just not that hungry today so I am going to make the pie tomorrow. Maybe that will give me time to find a good crust recipe and to chill it...mmm, I did go out and buy ground ginger for those gingerbread men last week...so I'm ready for trying a new crust! Wheeeeeeeeee, this is fun!

Apricot Ice Cream Blueberry Ice Cream Chocolate Cinnamon Ice Cream Orange Ice cream Red Raspberry Ice Cream World-Famous Philadelphia Vanilla Butter Pecan Ice Cream Mango Ice Cream * Exported from MasterCook * Apricot Ice Cream Recipe By :the Complete Book of Homemade Ice Cream Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00 Categories : Ice Cream Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method -------- ------------ -------------------------------- 2 pounds fresh apricots 2 cups water 1 cup sugar 2 cups heavy cream -- whipped 1 cup evaporated milk 1 teaspoon grated lemon rind 1/2 teaspoon almond extract In a saucepan, combine apricots and water. Cook, on low heat, for 10 min. Add sugar to apricots and continue to cook for 10 more min. Press apricots mixture through a sieve to remove skins and stones. Cool. Add whipped heavy cream, evaporated milk, lemon rind and almond extract to the apricot puree. Churn-freeze. * Exported from MasterCook * Blueberry Ice Cream Recipe By :The Complete Book of Homemade Ice Cream Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00 Categories : Ice Cream Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method -------- ------------ -------------------------------- 2 pints fresh blueberries 1 cup sugar 1/8 teaspoon salt 2 cups heavy cream -- lightly whipped 1 cup evaporated milk Mash berries and cook with sugar, on medium heat, stirring constantly, for 5 min. Press berries through a sieve. Cool. Add salt, lightly whipped cream and evaporated milk to the berries. Churn-freeze. * Exported from MasterCook * Chocolate Cinnamon Ice Cream Recipe By :the Complete Book of Homemade Ice Cream Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00 Categories : Ice Cream Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method -------- ------------ -------------------------------- 4 ounces unsweetened chocolate 2 cups condensed milk 4 cups light cream 1/2 cup water 2 tablespoons vanilla extract 1/4 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon In top of double boiler, melt chocolate. Stir condensed milk into melted chocolate and cook, stirring for 5 min. Cool. Stir light cream into chocolate mixture. Add mixing well, water, vanilla, salt and cinnamon. Churn-freeze. * Exported from MasterCook * Orange Ice Cream I Recipe By :the Complete Book of Homemade Ice Cream Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00 Categories : Ice Cream Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method -------- ------------ -------------------------------- 1 cup fresh orange juice 1 teaspoon finely grated orange peel 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice 1/2 cup finely grated lemon peel 2 cups sugar 2 cups milk 2 cups heavy cream 1/8 teaspoon salt Combine all ingredients. Mix well. Churn-freeze. * Exported from MasterCook * Red Raspberry Ice Cream Recipe By :the Complete Book of Homemade Ice Cream Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00 Categories : Ice Cream Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method -------- ------------ -------------------------------- 1 quart fresh red raspberries 1 cup sugar 1/8 teaspoon salt 3 cups heavy cream -- lightly whipped Clean and crush raspberries. Combine raspberries, sugar and salt. Let stand for 1 1/2 hours in a warm place. Mash and strain. Combine strained raspberry mixture with lightly whipped heavy cream. Churn-freeze. * Exported from MasterCook * World-Famous Philadelphia Vanilla Recipe By :the Complete Book of Homemade Ice Cream Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00 Categories : Ice Cream Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method -------- ------------ -------------------------------- 6 cups light cream 1 1/4 cups sugar 2 vanilla beans, 3" size -- split 1/8 teaspoon salt In top of double boiler, combine 3 cups cream, sugar, vanilla beans and salt. cook, stirring constantly, for 10 min. Remove beanpods, scraping pulp and seeds into cream. Cool. Add remaining 3 cups cream to the cooled mixture. Mix well. Churn-freeze. NOTES : A key recipe---use your imagination and add fruits, nuts and flavorings to make this vanilla into your own concoction. * Exported from MasterCook * Butter Pecan Ice Cream Recipe By :The Complete Book of Homemade Ice Cream Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00 Categories : Ice Cream Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method -------- ------------ -------------------------------- 1 cup finely chopped pecans 2 tablespoons butter 2 1/2 cups heavy cream 3/4 cup sugar 2 tablespoons vanilla extract 2 cups cold milk In a skillet, brown the pecans in the butter. cool. Mix together the browned pecans, cream, sugar, vanilla and milk. Churn-freeze. * Exported from MasterCook * Mango Ice Cream Recipe By :The complete book of Homemade Ice Cream Serving Size : 1 Preparation Time :0:00 Categories : Ice Cream Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method -------- ------------ -------------------------------- 2 cups fresh mango puree (about 2 med.) 1 cup sugar 1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar 1/3 cup water juice of 1 lime 4 cups heavy cream -- lightly whipped In a saucepan, mix together sugar, cream of tartar and water. Boil for 5 min., stirring occasionally. Cool. Combine mango puree, juice of lime, lightly whipped heavy cream and cooled sugar syrup. churn-freeze.