The early twentieth-century world of The Farmer's Wife may be vastly different than our own hectic, high-tech times, but some things never change - like a taste for the kind of food that's cooked all day, the long-simmered stews and chilis, pot roasts and soups and puddings that savor of comfort and care. Culled from the pages of The Farmer's Wife and adapted for contemporary lifestyles and kitchenware, these recipes help today's cook recapture the full rich flavor of slow-cooked food steeped in the traditions of America's heartland. With a modicum of preparation in the morning or even the night before, anyone can come home to the kind of meals that yesterday's farmer's wife prepared; the slow-cooked beans and barbeque, casseroles, and hot dishes that could serve a few friends, a big hungry family, or a whole community. For party dishes that let a host focus on guests; for meals that won't heat up the summer kitchen; for hearty, delicious fare to satisfy gatherings big and small with leftovers to store for later meals, these slow-cooker recipes are the perfect time-wise, money-saving way to dish up a great helping of farmland history.