A good chef’s knife is one of the few truly indispensable parts of your kitchen arsenal. We’ve covered them extensively, and the one that we keep coming back to is the Victorinox line — it’s been Editor-in-Chief Faith’s go-to for over 10 years! While the 8-inch is the model so quickly listed by many home chefs as their go-to, we have a major reason you might want to consider the 7.5-inch right now: It’s currently on sale for $28 on Amazon.

But it’s more than just the discounted price we like: The lost half-inch isn’t a huge difference, but can be more manageable for people with smaller hands. A shorter knife also gives you more control as you chop and dice. If you’re not regularly cutting up larger pieces of meat or produce, you might not even miss it.

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Here’s a simple truth about food that everyone should know: Bread and cheese are a match made in culinary heaven. It is so difficult to go wrong if you just put these two ingredients together on the same plate. And when it comes to bread and cheese, pretty much no one does it better than the French. So when I saw that Trader Joe’s — which long ago earned its title as the king of snack foods — had released a new package of French fromage slices ($5), I just knew that I had to try it with a fluffy baguette. A plain ol’ cracker would never do for this taste test.

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For years, I was a toaster oven denier. Who needs a miniature, worse version of something already in your kitchen? Sure, it heats up quickly, but many of those little jobs could probably be handled in a toaster, and it never seemed worth the extra counter space. Then my sister told me she wanted a toaster oven for Christmas. Mind you, I remained personally anti-toaster oven, but for the sake of my little sister, I’d do the internet research and pick out a nice one for her.

Which is how, a few years ago, I found the Breville Smart Oven Pro. Slowly, via my sister’s glowing reviews, plus getting to used it myself, I started to revise my convictions. And while I remain toaster-less myself (a tiny Manhattan kitchen makes even the world’s best toaster oven impractical for the time being), I have become a convert. So much so that this Christmas, I decided to get my mom one even though she hadn’t asked for one. (Spoiler: It was a hit.) Because I planned poorly and inspiration hit me late, I had to pay full price. Luckily for you, the exact model I gifted is now on sale, meaning you can get one for yourself or your loved ones for over 20 percent off.

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No one cares about corn syrup in Bud Light, and everyone cares about the Backstreet Boys. That’s the general consensus from watching all of the food-related commercials that aired yesterday during the Super Bowl. A major misunderstanding that companies have — stemming, perhaps, from articles like this about the ads — is that people can actually hear what’s going on and follow complicated story lines in these commercials. They are wrong.

When you’ve been drinking beer all day and are chatting about the game and/or the Puppy Bowl while the commercials air, not every ad is going to land. So we decided to give the companies something of a report card. This is, in our opinion, how good — and bad — the ads were, ranked from worst to best.

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Dear readers, hello! Hello, hello, hello. It has been a long time since we spoke directly and a lot has changed at Kitchn. So starting now — right now! — I am going to write you a note every month about what’s happening at Kitchn, what’s cooking in my own kitchen, and see how we can do even more for you in your daily struggle and joy of eating well.

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Around the World in 30 Soups: This month we’re collaborating with chefs, cookbook authors, and our own Kitchn crew to share a globetrotting adventure in soups from countries and cuisines around the world. Today’s stop: Tanzania.

Supu Viazi, or coconut potato soup, is a simple dish that screams the flavors of Tanzania. It’s packed with some of my favorite ingredients (like coconut milk and potatoes) and it’s why I love it so much. It has an underlying taste of coconut that doesn’t leave the soup tasting sweet, just deliciously velvety.

Soups in Tanzania are often thickened with coconut milk — since there’s an abundance of coconut trees on the coastline. You’ll find that coconuts, whether it be the flesh or the milk, are used a lot in Tanzanian cuisine. One bite of this soup instantly transports me to a tropical state of mind.

The base of the soup starts with peppers, onions, and tomatoes — a trio that is quite common in African cooking. The potatoes and green banana add some starch and are quite filling since this soup lacks any meat. Finished off with some sliced avocado on top, this soup is delicious and brings me so much comfort. You can serve this as a meal on its own or as a starter before any other meal. While the ingredients may be simple, there is nothing simple about the taste.

—Evi Yaki, author of Flavors of Africa

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The minute we moved into our new house, which came complete with a coveted basement refrigerator, I took a cue from what I saw at the bars and threw a couple of pint glasses in the freezer. It became a habit to grab a frozen glass as we pulled a bottle from the fridge for drinking on the back porch. But as I learned more about beer serving and tasting over the past few years, I wondered if I might be doing something wrong by keeping my glasses icy cold. Was I revealing myself as an amateur?

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Lemon meringue pie, with its tender-crisp crust, tangy-rich filling, and light-as-air meringue, is the perfect mid-winter baking project. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised by how easy it is to make the classic pie — and we’ve made it even easier with our simple three-step process.

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Around the World in 30 Soups: This month we’re collaborating with chefs, cookbook authors, and our own Kitchn crew to share a globetrotting adventure in soups from countries and cuisines around the world. Today’s stop: Italy.

When I was growing up, if my mom was in a pinch to get dinner on the table fast, pappa al pomodoro — or Tuscan bread soup with plenty of tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, and basil — was her go-to. We always had stale bread to use up, which gives the soup both extra body and a soft, almost silky texture. It’s a tasty and hearty lunch that also makes a good weeknight meal.

—Giada De Laurentiis, television host, restauranteur, and author of Giada’s Italy: My Recipes for La Dolce Vita

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Aside from using it to get dinner on the table on busy nights, I always lean on my slow cooker when I need to keep food or drinks warm for a crowd — it’s an invaluable tool at parties and potlucks. But sometimes I wish I had another slow cooker handy to keep a second dish warm, especially come Super Bowl time when I have multiple dips and apps laid out.

I came across a totally ingenious hack on Delish (by way of Reynolds Kitchens) for making a DIY slow cooker divider out of a couple kitchen items. I was intrigued and curious — and pretty skeptical. Could a DIY slow cooker divider really hold up and make it easier to keep more than one thing warm? Here’s what happened when I tried it out.

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