Since the imposition of a state-wide stay-at-home order due to the Coronavirus pandemic, individuals have been spending more money on groceries and less on clothes and transportation. Many students have ventured out of their comfort zones and taken on the field of culinary education. TikTok, one of the fastest growing social media platforms, has created the trend of broadcasting different food hacks. These mind-blowing and efficient ways of approaching an ordinary task such as peeling garlic cloves has changed the way people perceive and manage their culinary skills. 

Although at this time we are not leaving our homes, a new movie theater hack was demonstrated on TikTok. In a popcorn bucket, the nonuniform distribution of butter is a constant problem for many of the viewers. When using the butter dispensing machine, the top of the popcorn bucket has a wide abundance of butter, whereas when we reach the bottom, the popcorn is not buttered. This uneven distribution can be solved using a straw. By placing a straw in the middle of the bucket all the way down to the bottom, let the machine dispense butter down the straw. Thus, the butter will be able to travel and fill the bottom popcorn with flavor. 

Another hack shown on TikTok involves cutting cake. Cutting cake can get messy, especially when there are several layers. If one layer breaks, the rest of the cake has the potential to collapse from its perfectly balanced form. Although knives are effective at cutting vegetables, sometimes a knife is not the best way to go when cutting cake. Retrieving a piece of floss that is longer than the diameter, run the floss right through the cake to cut it in half. Make sure to wipe the floss clean before making another slice. This efficient usage of floss allows the cake to be cut cleanly without ruining the decorative design. 

Of course, there cannot be cake without strawberries. An efficient way to remove the stem from a strawberry is to use a straw (just like the popcorn bucket hack!). Place the strawberry on the pointy end, opposite of the stem. Poking the straw through all the way, when the straw comes into contact with the stem, the stem will come off. 

If anyone has ever used garlic in their recipes, they will tell you what a long process peeling garlic cloves can be. The skin of the garlic cloves are shiny and thin and often get stuck on your fingers. As a result, to break the countless layers of skin on garlic cloves, an enclosed container will be needed. Place the garlic bulb inside the enclosed container and close the container.  Shake vigorously (and counting your ABCs while doing so can help). After shaking vigorously, the garlic bulb should have separated into cloves, and some cloves may not even require further peeling. The act of shaking vigorously garlic cloves can help to ease the process of removing the skin. 

Through these Tiktok hacks, readers will hopefully be able to spend their time more efficiently. After all, time is ex-straw special!

Through these Tiktok hacks, readers will hopefully be able to spend their time more efficiently. After all, time is ex-straw special!