August 04, 2026

From left to right: The Ninja, Nutribullet, and Cuisinart ice-cream-makers. Photo: Lauren Ro

Chocolate or vanilla? Sprinkles or hot fudge? These might be the questions the average ice-cream fan asks themselves, but senior editor Lauren Ro, an ice-cream aficionado, is asking which machine is best for making her own from scratch. Ro loves her Ninja Creami Swirl, but after both the Nutribullet Chill and Cuisinart FastFreeze launched earlier this year, she was curious to give the competition a whirl. Even though each machine varies in size, power, and output, she put them all to the test by making a couple of simple concoctions: a basic vanilla ice cream and a tart frozen yogurt (her ice-cream tastes are simple, after all). “My experiment was decidedly nonscientific, but there was no denying the results: These frozen treats were delicious,” she says. Read her full report here. 

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Photo-Illustration: The Strategist; Photos: Retailers

Back-to-school shopping is a whole lot easier when you have a few reliable favorites you can bulk-add to your cart. There’s the sick-day staples you should always have on hand and water bottles and lunch gear that will last the entire school year.

And here are some of the Strategist parents’ tried-and-true basics we buy in multiples, from organic cotton T-shirts to socks with sewn-in personalization to leggings in a rainbow of colors.

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