If you're friends with me on Facebook (or happened to comment on the stacks of cookbooks overflowing from every surface of my apartment, including the floor) you likely know that for the past couple months I've been writing for Food Network's FN Dish blog about my favorite cookbooks in a new column called Off the Shelf. 

This column has been a lot of fun because it combines my two lifelong obsessions: good food and good books. You can find all the features listed below (each one features a recipe from the books, so you get to try them before you buy them). Dig in, tell me what you think of the picks, tell me which recipes you loved most. Don't be shy!

• Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream Desserts by Jeni Britton Bauer (featuring Graham Cracker and Animal Cracker flavored ice cream recipes that taste like all the best parts of childhood).
• Preserving by the Pint my Marissa McClellan (featuring the Peach Sriracha Jam recipe, which is as close as you're ever going to get to capturing sunshine in a jar, let me tell you).
• My Paris Kitchen by David Lebovitz (featuring the Chicken Lady Chicken recipe, AKA my new go-to Wednesday night supper, you'll see why).
• Vibrant Food by (featuring a Corn and Zucchini Fritter with Avocado Crema recipe that I can't stop eating and I'm not even sorry).
• First Prize Pies by Allison Kave (featuing a no-bake Ice Cream Sundae Pie recipe that will save you from the hellish heat of summer).
• The Meat Hook Meat Book by Tom Mylan (featuring a recipe for smoked Rooftop Ribs that without fail draws my antisocial neighbors out onto their balconies every time I make it).
• Olives, Lemons and Za'atar by (featuring a recipe for Brussels Sprouts with Panko that was my gateway dish into the amazing world of Middle Eastern cuisine). 

-MMV