These recipes are from the Plains Edition of The Fencepost Magazine, submitted by readers from Carpenter, Wyoming and Atkinson, Nebraska.

Carpenter is a tiny, tiny town in southeastern Wyoming, almost in Nebraska and almost in Colorado. It has four streets going east and west and five streets going north and south. And no 'burbs. Population: "seven hundred and eighty-six people ... among them fifty-one point five three percent males and forty-eight point four seven percent females." (405 males, 381 females)

Atkinson, located in northeastern Nebraska almost in South Dakota, almost in Iowa, is quite a bit larger than Carpenter, but with a population of 1,244 in 2000 it is still very small by most town standards.


Atkinson Airport - where's the terminal, where's TSA?

This first recipe is novel to say the least. For one thing, I've never heard of 'tortilla skins.' Maybe she's contrasting them with wonton skins, but it'd be nice if she told us whether to use flour or corn tortillas, and if she wanted us to roll them up somehow, since she says not to over fill them.

Farmer's Feast
From Carpenter, Wyoming
1 lb. hamburger
3 lg. potatoes
1 can black beans
shredded cheese
sour cream
salsa
tortilla skins

Brown hamburger; drain and season to taste. Dice potatoes into pea size pieces and fry until soft. (you may chuck potatoes into larger pieces and cook before frying them.) Season to taste. Heat the black beans. Warm the tortilla skins. Layer each tortilla skin with spoonful of hamburger, potatoes, beans, cheese, sour cream and salsa. Be careful not to over fill tortilla. Options: other beans may be substituted for the black beans.

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I like this second one because it's been a long time since I've seen saltines called 'soda crackers' and you don't see 'oleo' for margarine much lately, plus I like corn pudding.

Scalloped Corn
From Atkinson, Neb.

1 can cream-style corn
2 eggs
2/3 c. crumbled soda crackers (about 12)
1/2 c. milk
salt
Topping:
1 cube melted oleo mixed with (8) crumbled crackers

Mix corn, eggs, crackers, milk and salt and placed into a greased casserole dish with lid. Sprinkle topping over casserole. Bake at 325° for 45 minutes.

If I was living in those towns I might be tempted to have a really good supply of booze on hand to take my mind off what the neighbors must be up to.

Bacardi Corn Pudding

3 cups fresh or canned corn
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup Bacardi silver rum, 80 proof
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups warm milk
2 tablespoons melted butter or margarine
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 2 quart baking dish. Combine the corn, eggs, rum and sugar in a bowl. Stir until the sugar dissolves. Add remaining ingredients. Pour into the baking dish and set in a pan of hot water in the oven. Bake 1 hour until custard is set.