2009 has really been the year of the home cook. While last year's crop of cookbooks was dominated by technical, aspirational, fantastical documents like Alinea, A Day at El Bulli, and Under Pressure, the front runners this year are all about doability — take Ad Hoc home, take Momofuku home, make your own bacon, can your own jam. Amidst the piles of books we've read in the past twelve months, there are dozens we're sure we'll turn to time and again. But a few stand out as the strongest, the smartest, the most beautiful, the most engaging — basically, the best of 2009. Our books editor Helen Rosner and associate editor Paula Forbes share their picks:

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