The cookbooks I can't live without

Cookbook glut. Any foodie finds it on their bookshelves eventually. And what a fabulous problem to have.

When my husband and I remodeled the kitchen in our 1924 bungalow, one of the items we wouldn't budge on was a built-in bookcase for our always teetering collection of culinary tomes.

After moving to a different city, we lost our cookbook shelves. Now most of the books are stashed in a walk-in pantry.

But our favorites live right on the kitchen counter, displayed in a deep corner, available to grab in an instant for inspiration or instruction.

Following are some of my favorites:

How To Cook Everything by Mark Bittman

If I could only have one cookbook, it would be this one. Bittman is my favorite food writer, food thinker, and even food television personality (check out the PBS series he shot with Mario Batali and Gwyneth Paltrow, "Spain: On The Road Again").

There's a reason the spine of this one is nearly missing; the book broke in half long ago, after years of frequent thumbing. I purchased the revised 10th anniversary hardback copy in 2008, and I love it as well, but I still come back to this well-worn family friend.

I'm just now working my way through Bittman's latest book, The Food Matters Cookbook, and it doesn't disappoint. Mark Bittman. If you don't know his writing, seek it out.

The Pioneer Woman Cooks: Recipes from an Accidental Country Girl, by Ree Drummond

I've raved about Ree here before. She has never steered me wrong. This cookboook, just like her website, is chock full of mouth-watering recipes that speak to my Midwestern sensibilities: hearty, never overly complicated, and always a hit with the folks gathered around the dinner table.

Any cookbook from America's Test Kitchen

I have so many America's Test Kitchen books, it's a little ridiculous. But the folks from Cook's Illustrated and the long-running PBS cooking show have done all the work for me -- they test a recipe 30, 40, 50 times, until they've whittled down the options and hit on the perfect way to prepare a myriad of delicious dishes. Everything I make from any of their cookbooks always turns out fantastic.

Cooking Light's Annual Recipes

I buy Cooking Light's Annual Recipes collection every year. The new book lands on the counter, while the previous year's moves to the pantry. Full of insipiration for healthy family meals, many of my staple recipes -- chili, chicken enchiladas, black bean soup -- originated right here.

Those are a few of my treasured go-to cookbooks. What are yours?