RICE WITH CHEESE.—­Wash some rice and then boil it for ten or eleven minutes in some milk, and let it stand till it has soaked up all the milk.  The proportion generally is, as we have said before, a teacupful of rice to two breakfastcupfuls of milk; but as we shall want the rice rather moist on the present occasion, we must allow a little more milk.  Now mix in some grated cheese and a little pepper and salt, place the mixture in a pie-dish, and cover the top with grated cheese, and place the pie-dish in the oven and bake till the top is nicely browned, and then serve.

Some cooks add a good spoonful of made mustard to the mixture.  Some persons prefer it and some don’t; it is therefore best to serve some made mustard with the rice and cheese at table.  Unless the mixture was fairly moist before it was put into the pie-dish, it would dry up in the oven and become uneatable.

RICE, CURRIED.—­Boil a teacupful of well-washed rice in two breakfastcupfuls of water, and let the rice absorb all the water; put a cloth in the saucepan, and stir up the rice occasionally with a fork till the grains become dry and separate easily the one from the other.  Now mix it up with some curry sauce, make the whole hot, and send it to table with a few whole bay-leaves mixed in with the rice.  Only sufficient curry sauce should be added to moisten the rice—­it must not be rice swimming in gravy; or you can make a well in the middle of the boiled rice and pour the curry sauce into this.

RICE BORDERS (CASSEROLES).—­Casseroles, or rice borders, form a very handsome dish.  It consists of a large border made of rice, the outside of which can be ornamented and the centre of which can be filled with a macedoine (i.e., a mixture) of fruit or vegetables.  As you are probably aware, grocers have in their shop-windows small tins with copper labels, on which the word is printed “Macedoine.”  This tin contains a mixture of cut-up, cooked vegetables.  These are very useful to have in the house, as a nice dish can be served at a few moments’ notice.  Mixed fruits are also sold in bottles under the name of Macedoine of Fruits.  Of course, both vegetables and fruit can be prepared at home much cheaper from fresh fruit and vegetables, but this requires time and forethought.  These mixtures are very much improved in appearance when served in a handsomely made rice border, and as the border is eaten with the vegetables and fruit there is no want of economy in the recipe.  Suppose we are going to make a rice border.  Take a pound of rice and wash it carefully if we are going to fill it with fruit we must boil it in sweetened milk, but if we are going to fill it with vegetables we must boil it in vegetable stock or water.  Add, as the case may be, sufficient liquid to boil the rice till it is thoroughly tender and soft.  Now place it in a large bowl, and with a wooden spoon mash it till it becomes a sort of firm, compact paste; then take it out and roll it into the