Saturday: Purple Boysenberry Velvet Ice Cream

Purple Boysenberry Velvet Ice Cream

And that concludes Ice Cream Week. :(

I have had quite a few requests for some of the recipes... and the stupid thing is, when I was inventing them, I forgot to write down exact measurements... guess I'm gonna have to make them all again :D

No, seriously... I think I might make a free downloadable eBook sometime with the recipes in. It was so much fun inventing and creating! I find that these days when I make Raw Food, I'm always thinking about ways to improve or tweak the recipes to my liking. I'm also going to try and make the recipes more 'economical', without compromising taste. Stay tuned!

Now I have to make an ice cream wafer recipe to go with the ice cream...

Friday: Chocolate Fudge Ice Cream

Chocolate Fudge Ice Cream

This was SO decadent and chocolate-y, I could only eat one small bowl! Which was probably a good thing, too.

For some reason, cacao seems so amazingly rich and divine. As you can see I adorned the 'crown' of the ice cream with cacao bean chips. I ate it a few hours ago, but upon adding the pictures, I think I'm going to go and get some more... I mean, erm, take the dog for a walk.

I hope everyone is having as good a week as I am ;)

Peace and Raw Food,
Felic Pear x

Thursday: Kiwi Ice Cream

Kiwi Ice Cream

I never knew that Kiwi had more Vitamin C than Oranges! I just love it. I think it's one of the most beautiful fruits ever, and it makes a great looking and tasting ice cream, too.

Wednesday: Strawberry Ice Cream

Strawberry Ice Cream

I cannot begin to express my love for strawberries.

That is all.

*snatches*

How is it possible to make the best ice cream in the world that has no milk, eggs, or refined sugar? I don't know, but it is.

Tuesday: Vanilla Cherimoya Ice Cream

Vanilla Cherimoya Ice Cream

I love Cherimoya, it is just ice cream in itself. It is so creamy and sweet, so I wasn't very surprised to find out that it was really good for me! (Actually I was).

Monday: Cacao Cashew Ice Cream

Cacao Cashew Ice Cream

Through my whole life I have loved Chocolate Ice Cream. Who doesn't? I love a lot of other flavors, but if there was only one I could have for the rest of my life, it would have to be this one.

Hmm... I don't really know about nutrition. I read the other day that 2 handfuls of cashews per day can decrease depression, I know cacao is a great antioxident, and I read that dates can have certain health benefits. But you know what? I don't care! This Ice Cream is Raw Vegan, tastes fantastic, so that's good enough for me!

I didn't invent this recipe, but I did edit it a little.

If you do the "I-eat-things-in-moderation" thing then that's great.

But I challenge you to eat this in moderation.

Sunday: Orange Cacao Bean Chip Ice Cream

Orange Cacao Bean Chip Ice Cream

When I was younger orange chocolate chip was probably one of my favorite ice cream flavors!

Of course, when I made it I had no high fructose corn syrup, emulsifier 198, guar gum, or soy lethicin on hand, so that meant I had to use raw vegan ingredients, but that's cool, because it turned out waaay better than anything I could have ever bought!

You may have heard me whining about the lack of cacao nibs where I live. Well, we managed to find cacao beans, so I simply took off the little skin and broke them up! Voila, chocolate drops!

My interesting discovery while making this was that surprisingly when you juice oranges, the juice isn't actually the bright orange colour of the peel! Who knew? I certainly didn't.

Ice Cream Week Announcement!

To mark the arrival of an Ice Cream Maker to my house, I have decided that in honor of "Creemy" (as it's known), to mark this week as Ice Cream Week.

Every single day from this Sunday through to Saturday I will post a new flavor of Ice Cream, invented, photographed, tried, tested, and tasted by me. Sigh, it's so difficult being Raw Vegan, I tell you...

All of the posts are below.

Sunday - Orange Cacao Bean Chip Ice Cream

Monday - Cacao Cashew Ice Cream

Tuesday - Vanilla Cherimoya Ice Cream

Wednesday - Strawberry Ice Cream

Thursday - Kiwi Ice Cream

Friday - Chocolate Fudge Ice Cream

Saturday - Purple Boysenberry Velvet Ice Cream

I also wanted to add that I WILL be publishing an Raw Ice Cream eBook in the future, featuring all of the above recipes, and more!

The Seaweed Harvest

Excuse me for my lack of posting, but I had a brilliant idea on the weekend, and am currently putting it into motion, so just wait! I will probably add a hint in this post, but it's up to you to find it.

As I mentioned the other day, I made ice cream for non-raw-vegan-kids. Very fussy kids, too. Did they like it? Well originally when I started telling them about the ingredients one of them straight away said, "Ew, no thanks." Haha, did he regret saying that later! At first I pretended to refuse to give him any ("I thought you didn't want any so I didn't make enough for you") but let's just say they liked it. Like REALLY liked it. I've been perfecting my ice cream recipe.

Anyway, we went on a seaweed harvest the other day. I may not seem normal, but I think it's fair enough to like knowing where what I'm eating came from, and so I prefer to harvest it myself. As a lot of y'all out thar probably know, seaweed/sea vegetables are a great source of nutrients especially iodine. So we were keen on getting some for ourselves: for free.

Ohai Thar pug. Where are you going?

"Why I'm off to the beach to get some seaweed."

It was the middle of winter, and the beach was freezing. It still looked nice, though.

Doesn't it look edible?

Hambley the Pug loves seaweed.

Now what?

I washed it.

And then I dehydrated it.

Before being dehydrated.

Now to use it...

Interrogated... by 12 year olds?!

One of my mum's friends is on holiday in Australia at the moment, so it's my mum's job to go over and feed the kids dinner. There are two teens, around my age, and then two 12 year old twins.

Anyway, we went over this afternoon, and somehow they had managed to find out about my veganism. I don't think they knew about the 'Raw' Veganism, and I didn't bother to tell them, it would only confuse them.

They had a few friends over, and they asked me the following:
What do you eat?
How do you live life without meat?
Where do you get your calcium without milk?
Do you like salads?
Where do you get protein?

And the general statement was: "Man, I'd HATE to be a vegan!"

My response: "You just wait! I'm making you vegan ice cream tomorrow! Then you'll be sorry!"

My answers to the questions were:
-I eat fruits and vegetables. Duh.
-It is EASY for me to live without meat! Read The Food Revolution (John Robbins), and see if you still want to eat meat then.
-There are green leafy vegetables that contain calcium, and also the Cherimoya fruit contains a HUGE amount of calcium. Yum Yum!
-I don't naturally gravitate towards salads, so it has to be pretty tasty for it to get my vote!
-I get my protien from green leafy vegetables, quinoa, sprouts, and nuts.

I don't judge anyone. I know how unnatractive it is to be judgemental. It's difficult not to be though, seeing people struggling to lose weight, or to maintain health. Obesity runs rampant on BOTH sides of my family, and I was overweight when I was younger. I'm not anymore, and could actually be considered quite skinny. I will do a Before & After post when I can get my hands on some decent pictures. I'm not really looking to convert people to Raw Foods, I just want to inspire, and to show how possible it can be, no matter how disadvantaged you may think you are. And I want to show people the perfect health I am in, and show them that it's attainable!

This is what I had for lunch the other day. Don't freak out, it's not actually S.A.D.!

French Fries & Tomato Sauce

Today was my first day back at school :/ I talked to my English teacher, and he said I could write a review of a book for my English exams. Hmm. I'm questioning whether to review The Food Revolution, The Omnivore's Dilemma, or In Defense of Food. Haha, yes, they will think I'm crazy. I've been reading a lot of stuff like that to better answer people's probing questions about my diet.

Brunch at the raw vegan Café!

Today we had brunch at the Raw Vegan Café! Ahhhh, it was so good!

I've mentioned before, we have Patricia Ganswind, one of the Top 50 Raw Vegan Chefs in the World, running a café here, called Eternel Delight.

To start, we had a 'Love' Tincture. I'm not exactly sure exactly what it was, but it was spicy! Then we had Kombucha. I LOVE Kombucha. It's so great to drink, because it's kind of fizzy, and a bit sweet at the same time. I'm really not giving a good enough description to do justice to it, so you better go and find some! Next course (there were 5 courses in total) was a Salad, with Sprouts, Carrots, Red Cabbage, and a Sweet Ginger Dressing. There was more in the Salad than that, but we didn't realize that we'd remembered the camera at that point, so we didn't take pictures. It was quite easily the best salad I've ever eaten! The next course was a Burger, 'Sausage', and Crackers with a range of dips.

Then we remembered that we brought the camera.

That's me. Excuse the tuft of hair sticking up.

And then our Mayan Magic Chocolate Elixirs arrived! :O

Yum. I love these so much.

This is my mum, the one that pays for all my Raw Food.

Then our Chocolate Cashew Ice Cream Sandwich. It was perfection.


Definitly the best brunch I've ever been to.

Actually, the only brunch I've ever been to.

And then, to top it off, my mum bought us a bottle of Kombucha!

What a successful day.

When Purple is the new Green.

Mmmmm... I made this for my breakfast, and it was so good, I decided to make it for my dinner as well! :B


So why is it purple? you ask. Becaaaause, I added Purple Kale! Ha!

The recipe was just purple kale, bananas, a couple of strawberries, and some vanilla extract. I then poured it into a big glass and slurped it up! Classy...

Raw Recipe: Sooshi + Rice/Pâté

This was the first time I've ever attempted to make Raw Vegan Sushi! The first roll wasn't so good, the second (which was the one I photographed) was a lot better, and actually looked edible! The third, which I should have photographed, was even better.
It does take a bit of practice, but you get there in the end!

For the Rice/Pâté: (I used a basic recipe)
3c Sunflower Seeds (sprouted)
1c Lemon Juice
1/4c Liquid Aminos (or Tamari, Nama Shoyu)
Chopped Garlic

Tip: DON'T add extra water, I added a tiny bit, and as a result, it became a bit too watery!

Next get your 'inside the sushi' ingredients; mine were Avocado, Refried Beans, and Carrots.

I suggest you use two layers of Nori, because the pâté is quite wet, you don't want the Nori to get wet and rip. (Heaven Forbid!)

Lay the Nori down on a bamboo mat, (if you have one) and spread the pâté from the bottom up to about halfway.

Then add the carrots onto the pâté, I julienned mine. (For the un-enlightened, it means cut into thin strips). Add the avocado, or any other ingredients you have!

I sealed the sushi with a bit of the pâté, and then lay the sushi on top of the sealed part.

I then put my sushi roll in the fridge to set a bit, I found it made it easier to cut.




DON'T think this was my first attempt, because it took me ages to get it right. Luckily with a bit of patience, I managed to make a sushi that could be picked up without everything falling out!

I'll add pictures to the post later of the steps, my instructions might seem a bit confusing, sorry. :)

Shopping!

Such a long day today, I only just got home, and it's 7:00pm!

In the morning I got up, and made our lunches which was just crackers, because I knew we'd be going shopping. Though I did make my mum a piece of chocolate cake with walnuts and cashews, since I knew she'd need the energy. (I was feeling fine so didn't make one for myself).

At 11:00am we left home. This in itself was a feat, because we don't have a car! Luckily the bus service where we live is awesome, so it wasn't too difficult, we just had to walk a bit. But when you want Raw Food, you want Raw Food, right? So we went to the local organic health food store, called Piko.

I spend a lot of my time raging about the fact that there aren't any Raw Chocolate brands or Cacao Nibs in New Zealand, because there seem to be a lot in America! We are very lucky though, to have one of the Top 50 Raw Vegan Chefs in the World (Patricia Ganswind, from Canada) running a cafe near where we live! Yum, she makes the best Mayan Magic Chocolate, but I just call it Chocolate Soup. ANYWAY, as I think I was originally saying (yeah, I go way off topic sometimes), we actually managed to find some Raw Packaged Foods at Piko! I was amazed, and super happy when my mum bought it! Here are our spoils.


They were delicious! However, they totaled at about $20NZD, which is about $14USD. I don't know if that's much in America, but here in New Zealand, it's a mighty big amount to spend on a 6 pieces of Chocolate and some crackers! Especially since I can make the crackers at home for $1.00. But I'm glad we did get some, and it's good to know there is some packaged Raw Food being sold where I live.

We also got some fruits and vegetables.


We got apples (they sell the best apples), pears, kiwifruit, avocados, chia seeds (which I had been looking for), lemons, and vanilla extract. It totaled at about $30NZD, equivalent to $20USD.

This may seem a lot. It certainly seems a lot to spend on food in New Zealand, especially since I come from a single parent family. But I think this proves a point. Me and my mum do NOT have lots of money, but we still maintain an 100% Raw Lifestyle, even during the middle of winter (it's winter in the southern hemisphere, remember that as you nom your next raspberry!)

My mum says she doesn't mind paying extra for food, because she knows we are getting such a high quality of nutrition, we need less food, we are healthier, happier, and she says she loves seeing me try new recipes as it inspires her.

It was difficult at first to prove to my mum that I wanted to stay 100% Raw. It took commitment. But when there's a will, there's a way. I searched recipes, tried them out, and adjusted them to suit us. It has changed the way we lived, for the better!

So we went and ate our picnic lunch of yummy raw foods under a tree. It was the first decent day in so long, and it was nice feeling the warm sun again.


Then we went to the University. I may only be 15, but as you have probably guessed by now, that doesn't seem to stop me. My school has a really cool offer open that if you want to take a specific University Course, you can. So I leapt at the opportunity and decided to take one about The Evolution of Jazz.

My plans for tomorrow is to make some Raw Vegan Sushi! Would it be crazy for me to say that I have never actually attempted to make sushi before? (Raw Vegan anyway). If it looks half decent I will post photos and a recipe.

Until then, Peace & Love,
Felic Pear x

Freak Out D:

I'd thought I'd write this post just to show people that bad things CAN happen when you're a Raw Vegan. We all should know this anyway, because it's just what life does!

I'm not a Raw Food Expert, but I have managed to learn to listen to my body. All I am is a broke teenager in New Zealand trying (and mostly succeeding) to be 100% Raw Vegan all the time.

Anyway, so you know when things are great, but then (sometimes for no reason) things don't go so great? And you quickly find yourself freaking out...

I had one of those. And I'm not ashamed to admit it!

I was feeling very uninspired. My body wasn't responding well to Raw Food, and I now see it's because I was eating too much. I was wondering if I should quit Raw Food altogether. I felt so bad about all the money my mum had spent on my health (pre-Raw) and now my organic food. I'd been at home for about 5 days straight. We had guests staying on the living room floor. I had homework I had to do but didn't particularly want to. And to add insult to injury, it was raining!

Yes, I am a responsible, mature 15 year old, and it is high time my mum stopped coming and giving me a hug when I cried, but I'm not ashamed she did! She came and talked to me, confirmed that Raw Food was the path I should be on, that I could get my homework done, and that everything was going to 'be ok'. And in true style, we even made some ice cream :3

Can anyone guess what kind of Ice Cream it is?

What Has Been Happening in 'My' Kitchen

Happy International Raw Day! (I know, there is such a thing as International Raw Day?!)

First I'd like to apologise for this post, which is most probably going to be VERY long.

Today our guests left. Though it was sad to see them go, it was pretty exhausting having people stay, especially in our little igloo house.

As soon as they left, my mum went and had an afternoon nap, and I took to the kitchen to do a bit of Raw Un-cooking.

A few hours later I took her up a few Chocolate Orange Cookies and some of her favourite White Pear tea.



I put on a fresh batch of Kale Chips, and also tried making some Pumpkin Bars (as seen on the Renegade Health Show); our guests had a Roast for dinner last night and there was leftover raw pumpkin.

I dehydrated some and put some of the others in the fridge to set. The verdict? The dehydrated ones were preferred.

Kale Chips: The 'New & Improved' version of Popcorn.

Then we watched the movie Food, Inc., whilst snacking on Kale Chips. I must admit, watching movies about the S.A.D, and eating (anything, even Raw Foods) don't go hand in hand. I've always been one of those people that has been accepting of the fact that animals have to be killed in order to be eaten, but since becoming Raw I have really changed this view; it was horrible seeing the animals being hung up and humiliated in the slaughter house. My mum (who is usually 100% Raw, but occasionally has cooked food) was so shocked seeing it (even though we'd seen things like that before) she immediately said, "I'm never eating meat again." I knew she meant it, too. The root of all the issues seemed to be people's greed for money. It was heartbreaking to see people that wanted desperately to be healthy (it was literally a matter of life and death), but that didn't know how. It made me thankful to have found Raw Food, and determined to spread it to as many people as possible. (Not to force it on them, but to let them know that there is hope in this corrupt world).

So anyway, since we've been buying up large on Raw Organic Foods, there's occasionally leftovers. What Do Ya Do With Leftovers? You make more Raw Food, of course!

We had some Kiwifruit that was going soft... The result?

Kiwifruit Sorbet.

We had some Raw Beans, and Raw Tomato Sauce from Tacos that had been made... Result?

Raw Vegan Pizza, with Beans, Avocado, Tomato Sauce, Red Onions, and Fresh Cilantro.

It tasted great, EXCEPT that I wished I'd gone with my intuition on this one and developed my own recipe for a Pizza Base! (Why? Why didn't I?) I'd been looking at a lot of other recipes, and decided to use one with apple in it. I was a bit dubious; I did NOT want a sweet pizza, I wanted a savory one! Anyway, the pizza still looked and tasted amazing, and it was a good experience c:

I do LOVE testing other peoples recipes though (but because of my lack of skills, it does sometimes take me awhile to get it right), but a great thing to do with random leftovers is to create something new!

How much is too much?

So, I'm starting to get really dragged down by the holidays... My best friend has been away, but she's finally back, so it's sleepover this weekend! (Of course, I will be providing the Raw Vegan Chocolate Cake!)

It's strange, I've been eating a lot of Raw Food these holidays. Or have I been? I'm not really sure, to be honest. How much Raw Food should you eat? I've heard with Raw Food you don't have to eat as much... and that's true, some days I only feel like eating a piece of fruit for lunch, and then don't really feel like eating dinner... Or I eat a green smoothie mid afternoon, and then don't feel the need to eat dinner. I don't really know about portion sizes when it comes to Raw... is there such a thing as too much Raw Food?

Usually I'm a busy person, and don't spend much time 'moping' around the house, but in the holidays I always walk to the fridge, open the door, pick up an apple, change my mind, put down the apple, and walk away, only to turn around and walk straight back! I have been trying to channel my boredom into creativity though... By trying lots of Raw Recipes! And today I even made some Cookies!(Recipe will come later).

It has been really fun having a 3 year old staying. She is adorable, and makes me want to adopt her as my sister! I don't know though, the other day she woke up really really early... Hmm... maybe I'll stick with being an only child.

Monday Surprise! Tuesday Surprise?!

So what was the Monday surprise, you ask? An ice cream maker! I spent the whole weekend waiting for it, and it has finally arrived!

This is the delicious Cacao Cashew Ice Cream. Damn tasty!

I wasn't expecting the surprise I got on Tuesday though...

You know when you plan something, and then your plans get changed through NO FAULT of your own?

My mum told me to plan a Weekly Raw Vegan Menu for us, including writing preperations for each night, shopping lists, and searching for recipes online. I had to make something new each day, so that meant that chocolate cake everyday was off the menu. That was all fine and dandy, until my mum's friends came to stay with their 3 year old granddaughter. Not that I minded, but I had just exhausted myself in planning a 7 day menu for 2 people.

Not only that, our house resembles an igloo, in looks and size. And 3 extra people don't fit too well.

So far it's been fine. Last night they bought Fish-n-chips for dinner (anyone who's been to New Zealand will know about this national obsession; this is like the signature dish). I wasn't tempted at all, and instead ate lots of Kale Chips! They were so much better. My mum ate some fish-n-chips though, and she said they weren't filling and tasted quite slimy.

This morning Anne (my mum's friend) tasted a bit of my cacao cashew ice cream, and thought it was delicious! She was amazed that there was no cream, eggs, or sugar in the mix. So I promised I'd make her a Raw Vegan Chocolate Cake for dinner, as it's actually her birthday today.

Raw Recipe: Cocoa Pops

I love many things. I love Chocolate, being a Raw Vegan, and eating Breakfast.

Result?

Raw Vegan Cocoa Pops

Ingredients:
10 Dates (soaked for at least 20 minutes)
1/2 Avocado
1 tbsp Organic Vanilla Extract
1 tbsp Raw Organic Honey
1/4c Raw Organic Cacao Powder
2-3c Sprouted Buckwheat

Method: Combine all the ingredients EXCEPT the Sprouted Buckwheat and blend!

Transfer to a mixing bowl, and mix the fudgey chocolate sauce and the Sprouted Buckwheat together.

This is your chance to add delicious morsels of nutritious goodness! I added a handful of raisins... If you have Raw Cacao Nibs add them, we would, but we can't find ANYWHERE that sells them. You should have something that looks like this.



I then dehydrated it over night, so it would be ready for breakfast. I don't know how long it took, 6 hours maybe?

Mmmm...

I suggest you whip up some of your favorite milk to go with it, whether it be almond, walnut, cashew, there are so many options! Or just eat it without milk, it's pretty darn tasty anyhow!

If you want it really sweet add more dates or honey. If you want the buckwheat to be the star, add more buckwheat. You have the power!

Anyway, I have some Kale Chips in the dehydrator overnight, they're going to be for my lunch tomorrow. I've heard that they are the best things on the planet, and judging by the smell, I believe it!

I tried to do a juice fast/feast today. It went alright, except for my Cocoa Pops at breakfast! And I forgot to eat lunch... Ok, maybe not so good after all. But I was trying to do French Homework! (I know right, homework in the holidays?) Anyway, here is my juice that I had for dinner. All the greens were from our garden as well. My mum suggested I put the picture up to show that I do eat some non-chocolate stuff...!



I whipped up some of my Strawberry Sorbet as well, and put it in little ice cube trays. I figured that I'd rather my family eat these as snacks, as opposed to non-raw-vegan chocolate biscuits (and yes, even though I am 15, I share a very active role in un-cooking and menu planning).

I am the first to volunteer to be the strawberry's cheerleader

"Oh how I feel dainty eating my strawberry-on-a-stick."

Today my mum also made us a glass house! I helped with about 2% of the backbreaking labour. LOL, No, instead I was being a 15 year old house wife in the kitchen.

Peace, and Raw Food, (because Peace is caused by Raw Food)
Felic Pear x

Raw Recipe: Noritos

I got this AMAZING recipe from the beautiful people at the raw seed.

We tried this, and it quickly became a Raw Staple in our house. Great to take to school in my lunch. If you're a Raw Vegan teenager (like myself), you can take these to school and not be worried about anyone giving you funny looks (like, 'what are you eating?') ya know, the ones you usually get when you bring the lettuce leaves and celery...

Raw Vegan Noritos

Ingredients:
1 cup sunflower seeds, soaked 6 hours - overnight. (The raw seed suggest using cashews, but here in New Zealand they are really expensive, so we use other seeds)
1/4 cup diced onion (red or sweet yellow)
2 tbsp. honey
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tablespoon ground cumin (optional, my mum hates cumin, so we don't use it)
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoons sea salt
1 red bell pepper, or green. Depends on the colour you want.(Seeds and stem removed)
1 garlic clove
1 lemon - juice only
5 sheets of RAW nori

Method:
Blend everything EXCEPT the nori. Until smooth. Unless you like having chunkier texture...

Spread out to the edges of the nori sheets and put in the dehydrator for a couple of hours.

When it's dry to the touch (but not too dry), get some kitchen scissors and cut into shapes. Because I love triangles and triangle shaped foods, that's what I do.

And VOILA!



And what makes these taste even better? A recipe for a delicious Sour Cream to go with them! Stay tuned!

Anyway, you should go to the raw seed. They rok. (Intended typo).

Food for the People!

The Good: Today was SUCH a great day!

I woke up and made more crackers for my mum's friends. Then I started to de-shell more walnuts.

Here was what we fed the non-raw-vegan guests. Man, were they impressed!

Clockwise: Chocolate Wonder-Cake, Mad-as-Crackers, Strawberries (for Sorbet), Sour Cream, Noritos.

Everything was 100% Raw Vegan: No meat, eggs, sugar, wheat, dairy, soy, or cooking!

I was also in the process of making Raw Vegan Cocoa Pops.

Pre-dehydrated.

Ahh, I remember the days when I ate stuff like that for breakfast. Except for the pollution that was normally in the stuff, it was like double chocolate hit, first the chocolate puffs, then the chocolate milk! The fact I can still have it, and that it's SO good for me, is just great.

The fruit of my efforts!

Like the little 'arab' cap I fashioned for the jar?

RLY excited for the juice feast me and my mum are doing tomorrow. I don't even know if it's gonna be that good, because we're only doing it for one day... Monday is a SPECIAL day. (Which I will tell you about when Monday arrives).

The Bad: In my ecstasy of Raw Eating, I cut my finger with the serrated knife. Owch.