Barbara Swell began her baking career in Martinsburg, WV, on January 19th, 1962, when she whipped up her first batch of sugar cookies from her 4-H Club Pack-and-Snack cookbook. She is the author of a very popular series of historic cookbooks, including Log Cabin Cooking, Take Two and Butter 'Em While They're Hot, Secrets of the Great Old-Timey Cooks, The Lost Art of Pie Making, and others. Barbara lives in Asheville, NC, with her husband and their three children.

"Lovingly compiled by historic American cooking expert Barbara Swell, Old-Time Farmhouse Cooking is a superbly presented collection of authentic recipes with generational appeal and old-time flavor -- many of which are excerpted from publications circulated up to a century ago like "Farm and Fireside". Upbeat excerpts from 1900's era articles concerning farm life and the hardworking people who lived it add a very special atmosphere to such delightful and pleasing treats such as Verna's Icebox Butter Buns, Never-Fail Dill Pickles, Tomato Surprise, Swedish Orange Rye Bread, Meringue Chews, and more" -- Midwest Book Review