L.A.'s Original Farmers Market Cookbook: Meet Me at 3rd and Fairfax

With her beautiful Farmer's Market Cookbook, Cianciulli has captured a myriad of delightful scenes from my life growing up in Los Angeles. With every turn of the pages i'm drooling! My mother loved everything about Farmer's Market-- from the gift shops, to the food stalls, and the specialty butchers. 76 years ago, I was in a stroller being given my personal tours of Farmer's Market from infancy. I think I must have fallen in love with the smell of coffee then, as my mother parked my stroller at one of the outdoor lollipop tables and went for her cup of coffee at Maxwell's Coffee, "down- the- last- drop- good" coffee stall ( right next to Mannings), and returned with a 'Hottle' of their black coffee to have with her Arnold's warm cinnamon sugar doughnut. (LOVE that JoAnn lists doughnuts under "Breakfasts"!)We made weekly visits to the Farmer's Market so i really grew up with the marketplace. Ever imprinted on my brain is walking the marketplace with mom and ending up back at the food stalls for lunch with so many choices you had to have a favorite to fall back on when you couldn't decide. Mine was at Magees, with the chef dressed in an immaculate white coat and wearing a mile high crisp toque on his head, carving corned beef, whole turkeys and hams, right in front of my eyes. Cianciulli's book has awakened so many unparalleled memories associated with food for me, like the standout warm cinnamon sugar doughnuts at Arnolds Doughnuts--presently Bobs Doughnuts(for the longest time it was "Bob Doughnuts" without the 's' at the end. We always wondered why). We now live far north of Farmer's Market and we miss being able to go there often, so this cookbook is a double treasurer for us for the recipes and the memories. We keep it out on our coffee table in the family room where we often flip through it to jog our memories about the foods we love. In fact, our whole family is very excited to be making the doughnut recipe from her book today! Using Cianciulli's Cookbook as our inspiration and road map, we're at the point of planning a Farmer's Market at Fairfax St. Patrick's Party for our friends who ache for Magees corned beef plate as we do. Even if you're not a cook, this book about a Los Angeles historic treasure is a terrific, must- have guide book through the past of Los Angeles into the present, via food. Definitely Birthday gifts for all our friends this year.

This is a very fun book! Bought one for myself and gave one as a gift. Lots of trivia and history for Angelenos wanting a closer look into the well known L.A. Farmers Market. It’s a treasure!

This cookbook have more literature in it than recipes. Even though this is a farmers market cookbook, it doesn't really use much fruits and veggies from the farmers market. The recipes are from cafe's and restaurants, so needless to say they are a little complicated. If your like me, whose refrigerator is stocked with seasonal fruits and veggies, needs to be able to whip up something without having to go to the market to buy "special" ingredients, and like delicious easy recipes, than this is not the book for you. Honestly, I only read the recipes, I didn't try them out yet, but the book is already in my pile of stuff to freecycle :(

While I may not make all of these recipes (have to watch the waistline) it was a wonderful book with a lot of information about Farmer's Market that I wasn't aware of. I have been going there since the age 11. It's such a joy to visit and find that not much has changed through the years. A very good read

What a great cookbook. It takes me back to the late '40's and early '50's when my parents would take me there. It's still one of my favorite places to visit when I'm out there and I've shared it with my daughter who also loves it. My daughter has shared it with her young sons and so it's a family tradition.

What a delightful surprise.... I was expecting some wonderful recipes but this book was so much more. Memories...of how the market started and how it has evolved...stories of the people their special recipes...beautiful photos of "then" and "now". Congratulations JoAnn, on a beautiful contribution to the people of LA's Farmers Market.

Wow this is a history of the LA farmers market place. It is fun to know what to expect and where to find wonderful food. A must read book before visiting the city. I would recomend this read to everyone.

Love the creative ideas.