When quarantine started, teenagers and adults turned to Tik Tok for their source of entertainment and recipes. College student Jeremy Scheck from the DC area took this opportunity to share his love for new foods and cooking/baking techniques.

Students worldwide went into quarantine last March. Scheck shares how the free time that the pandemic gave him had inspired him to become a Tik Tok creator. “I was moving out of college and had so much leftover food, I thought I could make the most of the situation and try new recipes,” Scheck said.

The current pasta trend is baked feta pasta, started by creator Jenni Häyrinen, @liemessa. Scheck did his own twist on this recipe when trying it, switching out some of the ingredients. “I added extra seasoning (such as a head of garlic and red pepper flakes) and really enjoyed it,” Scheck said.

A pasta trend that Scheck has yet to try is Spaghetti alla Nerano, a spaghetti-based pasta with zucchini sauce and cheese. This recipe has been done by creators @ceoofpastawater, @annikacooksfood and thousands of others. “I think it looks really delicious and am excited to hopefully try it in the future,” Scheck said.

Scheck’s favorite dessert recipe that he has shared is flakey homemade pie crust. The recipe is vegetable-shortening free, requires no special equipment and only takes 10 minutes to make. “I have a controversial take on pie dough because it can either be really good or really bad but I’m happy that people enjoyed making it because it was one of my favorite Tik Tok’s to film,” Scheck said.

Scheck reached nearly 11 million views on his roasted potato recipe. “Typically my simple cooking videos are the ones that do well, I think it’s because it’s the ones that people are most able to try at home,” Scheck said.

On Tik Tok, people can also find pasta-making recipes from scratch. Scheck shares ways to make pasta with only flour, eggs and water. Overall, the #pastamaking trend has reached 38 million views, with people from all over the world trying to make pasta from scratch from their home kitchens.

A big factor in making satisfying-to-watch cooking videos is the quality and the way in which the video is filmed. Over time, Scheck has perfected his filming process for his Tik Tok videos. “I switched from my phone to a video camera a couple months ago, which improved my video quality, I also believe that good lighting is really important when filming, ” Scheck said.

While thriving on Tik Tok, Scheck also runs a website and an Instagram page solely for food and recipes. His website, scheckeats.com, offers an about page, recipes, and Tik Tok’s. He has had his Instagram food account for five years, which he started while in high school. “I just had my account for fun over the years, so it’s still shocking to see people trying my recipes, I never imagined that this could happen,” Scheck said.