Cookbooks by NYC chefs and restaurants

Neil Kleinberg, DeDe Lahman and their kids at Clinton St. Baking Company

Photograph: David Rosenzweig

Some families love food. A few families live food. Spend five minutes with former magazine editor DeDe Lahman and her Brooklyn-born husband, chef Neil Kleinberg, and it's clear that the couple belongs to that second, rarer category. The co-owners of Clinton St. Baking Company not only met at a restaurant (ordering takeout fish and chips) but have also succeeded in raising three culinary-minded kids.

Wedged into a booth near Clinton St.'s ever-swinging kitchen doors, Lahman and Kleinberg are talking—surprise!—about food. In particular, the Thanksgiving meal, when the whole family pitches in: Son Alex, 24, Clinton St.'s milk-shake expert, conjures cranberry sauce from scratch. Michelle, a 21-year-old college student and food blogger (themoodyfoody.blogspot.com), whips up poached garlic mashed potatoes. Even four-year-old Jade helps out, picking apples for pies at the family's weekend cottage upstate. Apple pie's just one of the desserts that graces the table. There's also pumpkin cheesecake and maple-bourbon pecan pie; recipes for all three are in the new Clinton St. Baking Company Cookbook (Little, Brown; $30), as well as on our website.

Central as food is to the family's life, the Lahman-Kleinbergs are equally bent on extending their passion to the community. Since 2004, they have offered free nutrition and cooking classes to kids through Hamilton-Madison House in Manhattan's Chinatown. Originally intended to address reported protein deficiencies in low-income children, Lahman and Kleinberg's volunteer work has reaped additional, and unexpected, rewards. "Some of the kids come here with their parents, to have brunch," Kleinberg says. "It feels nice to have that connection to the neighborhood." Lahman adds, "The kids are so open, so ready to try anything." Perhaps the Lahman-Kleinbergs have not only nurtured three foodies but a whole new generation of them.

Additional cookbooks courtesy of NYC eateries

Other local chefs, bakers and restaurateurs are spilling their secrets (lucky us!). Here are nine of our favorite recent releases, with Thanksgiving menu suggestions—plus some recipes.—Carolyn Juris

Alice's Tea Cup: Delectable Recipes for Scones, Cakes, Sandwiches, and More from New York's Most Whimsical Tea Spot by Haley Fox and Lauren Fox (Morrow, $24)
One of the city's best spots for a cuppa shares recipes fit for a Red Queen, such as its renowned, and seasonally appropriate, pumpkin scones. Click here for the recipe.

Molto Gusto by Mario Batali (Ecco, $30)
The prolific chef helps families re-create Otto Enoteca Pizzeria's offerings at home. Autumnal spices (sage and rosemary among them) make his white beans an ideal side. Click here for the recipe.

Baked Explorations by Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito (Stewart, Tabori and Chang, $30)
Red Hook treatery Baked takes on Americana classics like chocolate–peanut butter Buckeyes, an Ohio tradition. Click here for the recipe.

Photograph:
© Kevin Kennefick

Construction by Sharon Bowers (Storey Publishing, $15)
Manhattan mom Bowers, whose choco-spiders and ice-cream-cone witches delighted us in 2009's Ghoulish Goodies, delivers a compendium of recipes using store-bought candies. We love the pilgrim hats made with peanut-butter cups, and the Nutter Butter turkeys (with—bonus!—candy corn tails).

Photograph:
Alexandra Grablewski

Fat Witch Brownies by Patricia Helding (Rodale, $22.50)
Make treats like those found in Helding's Chelsea Market bakery, from the namesake cake to the seasonally correct apple ppice bars and "pumpkin plus" (an orange-iced brownie).

The New Brooklyn Cookbook by Melissa Vaughan and Brendan Vaughan (Morrow, $40)
Kings County culinary luminaries from 31 eateries lend their expertise to this book. Featured restaurants include Williamsburg's DuMont (and its oh-so-comforting "DuMac & cheese") and Buttermilk Channel, straight outta Carroll Gardens with a terrific twist on a Turkey Day classic: Doug's Pecan Pie Sundae.

Photograph:
Quentin Bacon

Radically Simple by Rozanne Gold (Rodale, $35)
The four-time James Beard Foundation Award winner offers relief for busy parents: 350 refreshingly easy recipes for dinntertime, including at least a few (such as pumpkin ravioli with crispy sage and walnut butter) destined for a spot on the Thanksgiving Day table.

Sweet Chic by Rachel Schifter Thebault (Ballantine, $28)
Sartorially inspired goodies (thumbprint cookies=chunky sweaters) from the confectioner behind Tribeca Treats. Try on a statement necklace—er, pumpkin cake—this Thanksgiving.

Viva Vegan! by Terry Hope Romero (Da Capo, $19)
Think the word vegan has no place at the holiday table? Recipes by Queens-based Romero, former cohost of popular public access show The Post Punk Kitchen, might change your mind. We're eager to serve her pumpkin–cranberry bean stew, among other tasty-sounding dishes.