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I’ve been made fun of for thinking butter tastes/feels off after sitting out on the counter, but it absolutely does. If you want soft butter, take it out like an hour before or soften it with heat and whip it back into a homogeneous mixture. I usually cut a pad and melt it on top of whatever I’m making before spreading it. Anything but leaving it on the counter to go bad…
Cheese is a weird one though. Definitely refrigerate cheese.
Can also just heat a regular butter knife over the stove or more ideally in hot water