Science, Math, and the Elusive Logic of Love

Science, Math, and the Elusive Logic of Love

I wander through my parent’s second story,

Sit down, try to study my notes on dioxins, DDT.

It was the worst argument in our history,

Now I just want to tell you about persistent estrogen mimics, PCB’s,

And the effects of altrazine on frogs.

What can I do, math is next, working on logs.

Your anger was justified, though I won’t admit it.

If I had control, my anxiety attacks would happen when I am alone.

You called me when you came home, you saw the empty closet,

I purposely left the dirty dishes and that half-eaten calzone.

My screaming, reeling, crisis mode, your utter exhaustion,

Combined, like nitric acid and hydrazine, leading to combustion.

You don’t have to convince me, because that void I pretend isn’t real

Gnaws at me, and when you say we still belong, inside I say, it’s true.

I feel the need to shine, blinding you, as if I am steel.

Now you show you are vulnerable, bendable as gold.

We are oppositely charged ions, we already formed a covalent bond,

I look in the backyard, I start to notice the fractal in a fern frond.

-Sarah Polansky

Maddie's Poem

Part One

When we met, I hugged you awkwardly, and you flinched.

I am still oh-so-awkward but you don’t flinch anymore.

At times I push the boundaries of awkward

You smile, shake your head.

When we met, well, I don’t like to think about that much,

Do you blame me?

I like to think about the moments we were together

Away from that place

Being Real People.

I wanted to belong somewhere,

I never did belong in that place,

But I belonged when it was you and me.

I felt fake and disgusting, manipulated, confused,

I was a single black feather in a cloud of white.

Or so I thought.

Things were darker there than I first imagined.

You may have saw this, felt this too,

Maybe that is why you wanted me there with you.

Part Two.

Wait, so what did happen there?

I still feel unable to explain.

If I was asked to summarize,

I would tell you this:

We followed the light into a cave,

I blew it up with some rancid dynamite I found there,

Thus, I escaped.

Soon, you were able to follow.

I am thankful for this:

We are still friends.

We are not fake.

We are not doomed.

We are Real People.

Nothing is Black or White.

I don’t care who is condemning you,

They are wrong.

Together we know these things.

Not from speaking them,

It grew twisted inside us until

Recognized as Truth,

It was allowed to grow, unhindered.

-Sarah Polansky

We have Evolved, Sister

Written for my poetry class, focusing on rhythm and repetition. But more importantly, it was written for my sister.

We Have Evolved, Sister

You were a Baby, the third small Baby,

I still wanted to be the only baby.

I was Drama Queen, I was Tantrum King,

All for the attention, Baby.

Home videos of you as a baby,

In your baby swing ,

I jumped in front of the camera 

Baby dolls in hand,

Attempting to outperform 

Your strawberry blonde baby curls 

Chubby baby cheeks.

I loved you, I, bossy big sister.

Bossy all day, you grew tired of big sister

Ms. Bossypants sister, shouting directions at you

Like a stage manager, head honcho, big boss.

Stand here, sing this, wear this, I’m the Boss.

Big smile, photograph, big production, No!

That’s not what I meant, Take Two, Baby!

You said you were jealous of me, Sister, I did not realize.

Sister, I was jealous of you first, don’t you see?

We grew jealous of the other, together,

Jealous of the Inner Greatness

As we knew our untapped gifts

Differently than anyone else.

I waited for you to bloom, so I could be jealous again.

No one could know me like you,

Knowing the sibling rivalry, the same quirky parents,

We have known it, We have shared it.

You know, I love our brothers, but

We know what it is like to be the Polansky girls.

Known the Love, Freedom, Discomfort,

We have known it together.

Our Mother raised us to be Strong, Feminist,

Though I always thought of you as the stronger one,

Your strongly sarcastic comments

Hid worry, concern, I know that now.

My strong, condescending tone,

Was meant as a strong push

Towards your Endless Potential.

Now grown, you are my friend,

How you have grown, Little Sister.

I call you when I don’t understand

Why I have grown into what I am.

Your understanding, you know the dysfunctions deeply,

Growing out of control, but now tamed, departing.

And how do we grow from here?

We were cultivated like Dad’s tomato plants,

Planted haphazardly, energetically, with high expectations,

Growing slowly, Watered fervently each day,

Grown to bear brightly colored fruit.
-Sarah Polansky


Rough Draft. I may tinker with it to create a stronger repeating rhythmic pattern. I am pleased with the sentiment I captured though. Love you Katie!

Eat Your Veggies: "Sandwich Celery Sticks" by Sophie

Give Sophie some Ritz crackers, peanut butter, raspberry jam, and some celery sticks, and you get....

"Sandwich Celery Sticks" - name coined by Soph.

 Yes, surprise surprise, she put the peanut butter and raspberry jam on the celery, not the crackers. Leave it to a four year old. I thought it would taste odd in a bad way, but Soph kept saying, "Try it, you'll like it! Try it, you'll like it!"

Guess what? I liked it! I have eaten PB+J sandwiches with celery on the side so many times, why not just skip the bread?

It is really good with just a little of the jam, it is reminiscent of a raspberry vinaigrette on a salad.

Crimini Mushroom Quiche

I opened the fridge and found...
crimini mushrooms I bought with no specific intention for them, one leek left from when Sharon made her sweet potato soup, half an onion, some eggs...
I was thinking, this could all go in a quiche! I am not brave enough to try to throw together my own recipes yet, so utilizing the power of search engines, I typed in "crimini mushroom leek quiche." Success! I found a great food blog with a recipe and a cute story about making just such a quiche:

http://www.insidethekaganoffkitchen.com/2011/03/23/leek-crimini-mushroom-quiche/

I did not have time to run to the store for cream, so I had to mod it a bit... I decided to go crust-less because I usually buy frozen (I have a fear of making crust! I should probably get over that).
I also had less mushrooms so I added 2 extra eggs and a splash of milk.

Albert Crimini by Sarah

Portrait of Mommy by Sophie

Soph stirring onions and leeks

Tasting the quiche

It turned out yummy! Successful impromptu-fridge-raid dinner.

Rose Lemonade

Lemon, ginger, rose - what's not to love?

 Today is the first day of my winter term.

I have a long to-do list. I am super excited about the classes I am taking: 

Cultural Anthropology, Poetry Writing, and Environmental Science.

I have been a little high-strung today.

Sam discovered this Rose Lemonade at Zupans, 

and it has certainly brightened my day!

 I won't have time to cook anything out of the ordinary today, so it was nice to try a new, delicious drink. 

I want to look into making my own rose lemonade. I will need rose oil... and I am pretty sure a little goes a loooooong way. When I have some time I will get my hands on a recipe. To be continued....

Recipe: Sweet Potato Soup

I won't lie, I don't usually get excited about soup...

but this soup impresses me.

We are all trying to eat healthier in our house. New year, new start... yada yada yada.

I worked all day (hooray for retail!) but I got to come home on my lunch break and eat some delicious soup that Sharon made.

Delicious does not explain it.

This soup smells amazing. 

You eat it and experience smooth-creamy-cinnamon-nutmeg-sweet potato goodness. For garnish, chopped fresh cranberries, fresh sage and pine nuts.

The flavor combination is completely comforting and surprising at the same time.


You get that perfectly warmed from the inside out feeling when eating it, and you can feel the nourishment entering your body. You know, the feeling when you are eating something so yummy yet so nutritious that you can enjoy everything about it?


So often it seems we feel we must choose between 
It's such a pleasure to eat, but I feel guilty now
OR 
It's kinda painful to eat, but I know it's good for me


I think I will start a collection of these "enjoy everything about it" recipes.
I want to have the best of both worlds.


Sharon got this recipe from the "Change your Brain, Change your Body Cookbook"  By Tana Amen and Daniel Amen. 


This soup includes lots of nutrient-dense, brain boosting foods and spices. According to Sharon, it's really easy to make, the part that takes the most time is chopping up all the vegetables.


Ingredients:
1/4 cup onion, diced
1/3 cup celery, diced
3 tablespoons leeks, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
6-7 cups vegetable stock
1.5 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 cinnamon stick
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon real salt (Sharon just used sea salt)
1 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 cup almond milk
2 tablespoons fresh sage, finely chopped
1/4 cup sunflower seeds (Sharon substituted pine nuts - yum!)
1/8 cup fresh cranberries


Preparation:
1. heat 1/4 vegetable broth in a large pot over medium heat. Saute onions, celery, and leeks for 2 minutes. Then add garlic, saute for one more minute.
2. Add 4 cups of remaining vegetable broth, sweet potatoes, cinnamon stick, and nutmeg. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer about 10 minutes until potatoes are tender.
3. Remove cinnamon stick.
4. Use immersion blender or pour contents into a blender in batches. Blend until smooth.
5. If using blender, pour soup back into pot. Add almond milk. Then slowly add remaining broth to desired consistency. 
6. Add salt and pepper.
7. Dish soup into bowls and garnish with sunflower seeds, sage, and cranberries.
- Tana's Smooth Sweet Potato Soup, from Change your Brain, Change your Body Cookbook by Tana Amen, B.S.N. and Daniel G. Amen, M.D.




Let me know if you try this recipe.
What other great soup recipes are hiding out there? 
Send them my way!


Chi Mangia Bene, Vive Bene


Sarah