Hearing listening up In your belly At 20 weeks, your foetus can detect a garbles version of your voice. During the third trimester in response to the external sounds he hears. In the world A newborn remembers noises form the womb, such as your voice and song he’s heard. He can readily discriminate between speech … Read more

With a name like “sous vide,” this cooking technique sounds foreign, and for good reason: the French chef George Pralus introduced it to the culinary world in the 1970s. While foreign in origin, it is certainly not complicated or mysterious. At its simplest, sous vide cooking is about immersing a food item into a precisely … Read more

1. Foodborne Illness and Sous Vide Cooking Sous vide cooking, when done properly, can safely create amazingly tender chicken, a perfect soft-cooked egg, or a succulent steak. However, it’s also possible to set up a perfect breeding ground for bacteria if the food is mishandled. The heat involved in sous vide cooking is very low, … Read more

A few minutes ago you were a couple—and now you are parents! The moment you have been dreaming of for nine months has finally arrived… so what happens next? Nothing compares with the moment when you meet your baby face to face. Of course your experiences will depend on your labor and birth and local … Read more

The first medical checkup In the first 12 hours a pediatrician will give your baby a checkup. In addition to a head-to-toe examination, there will be checks made on skin color, temperature, and muscle tone, and on reflexes, such as sucking and grasping. Heart and lungs are checked to ensure they sound normal. Head shape … Read more

Breastfeeding Problems Even the most seasoned breastfeeder can experience some discomfort and other problems while feeding. Fortunately, there are plenty of tried-and-tested tricks to help ensure breastfeeding is a success. Engorgement Check your baby is latched on properly as this will make sure that all of the breast is emptied of milk and help relieve … Read more

You will be astonished by how quickly your helpless new baby becomes a confident, eager explorer, able to master all sorts of new tricks. There is no need to push her toward achieving her milestones—she’ll get there all on her own. You can, however, offer her a little help when she feels frustrated by her … Read more

2. Sous Vide Hardware Sous vide cooking requires very little in the way of hardware: a heater to keep the water bath at temperature, and a vacuum sealer to package foods so that they can be placed in the water bath without coming into direct contact with the water. While the commercial tools can still … Read more

3. Cooking with Sous Vide While the general principles of sous vide cooking are the same regardless of the food in question, the exact temperatures required to correctly cook and pasteurize it depend upon the specifics of the item at hand. Different meats have different levels of collagen and fats, and denaturation temperatures for proteins … Read more

Their hands-on parenting can inspire, or give you a complex! Say hello to new-age dads this Father’s Day! My 6-year-old shares a bond with me that most mothers and daughters are likely to have. But, when I observe her narrating an incident that happened in school exclusively to her dad, I realize that a father’s … Read more

A bond that lasts A father’s influence can have various positive outcomes as in the two following cases. Dekhi-base criminal lawyer V. Madhukar didn’t mind coming back home twice or thrice a day form his chambers to look after his 1-year-old son Devarya (now 3). “My wife’s office was in Gurgaon, so it didn’t make … Read more

It’s the perfect technique for cooking: Healthy, because you’re not using too much fat, great for retaining flavour, and quick. Here are a few tricks: Start with naturally tender foods such as fresh vegetables, seafood, and poultry, then choose the best fat for the job, and a pan big enough to spread out your ingredients. … Read more

Finally, your baby is in your arms! As you recuperate in the hospital, you’ll get to know the baby you’ve waited to meet. Your baby today In the first 24 hours, your baby should pass urine and meconium, the first black, sticky feces, that are made up of waste products and bile. You’ll be changing … Read more

You may be feeling anxious about your new responsibilities, but be reassured by the support network around you. Your baby today Newborn babies sleep around 16 hours a day, although some sleep for most of the first few days while others seem awake and fretful. If your baby is very sleepy, you may need to … Read more

3.2. Fish and other seafood Fish cooked sous vide is amazingly tender, moist, and succulent. Unlike fish that has been sautéed or grilled—cooking methods that can lead to a dry and rough texture—sous vide fish can have an almost buttery, melt-in-your-mouth quality. Other seafoods, such as squid, also respond well to sous vide cooking, although … Read more

3.3. Chicken and other poultry One of the greatest travesties regularly foisted upon the American dinner plate is overcooked chicken. Properly cooked chicken is succulent, moist, and bursting with flavor—never dry or mealy. True, the potential of contracting salmonellosis from undercooked chicken is real; besides, raw chicken is just gross. But I’m not suggesting undercooking … Read more

Between three and six months your baby will discover how to use his hands, putting everything he can into his mouth. He’ll also be developing a sense of humor, and will enjoy playing with you, laughing and smiling when you spend time together. Best toys Toys that don’t have small parts that come off, or … Read more

As your baby gets older, her needs will change slightly. You may find she’s now ready for “real clothes” rather than just pajamas and onesies, and she may also be ready for more sophisticated equipment as her world increasingly extends beyond your lap. To wear Your baby will still need regular changing, so be practical … Read more

Menu planning helps solve the dreaded question that arises at about 4 or 5 pm every day: ‘What’s for dinner?’ Before having kids, I would rarely give a thought to dinner until I arrived home from work. I would even make a quick trip to the supermarket to buy additional ingredients if I felt like … Read more

Once I’ve created a menu plan, not only has this made mealtime easier, but the task of shopping for groceries has now been simplified too. The menu plan allows me to easily collate a shopping list to take to the supermarket. Shopping lists Shopping lists are the key to efficient shopping for our family. I … Read more