1 cup (1/2 lb.) rice

4 cups (1 qt.) boiling water

1 teaspoon salt

Sprinkle rice and salt into water, and cook it at a gallop till grains are tender. Drain it, saving water for soup. Hold it in a colander under cold tap, and let cold water flow freely on it just for a minute. Then put it back into pan, and set it at the side of fire in a gentle heat, so that it may warm up again, shaking pan every now and then to keep grains from sticking to the bottom.

Do not let colander stay under tap more than a minute. Do not warm up rice too fast, or it will burn. Serve with milk.

Or, steam one cup rice with three cups boiling water, adding teaspoon salt, in greased fireproof dish four hours. Cooked in this way, every grain will be separate. Serve with milk, sirup, or honey.

To Boil Rice Soft. This process makes rice into a thick creamy paste. Put rice into cold salted water and bring it to the boil. Then draw it to the side of the fire, and simmer one and one half hours, stirring it now and then to keep it from sticking, and taking care that it does not cook dry. If at the end of that time there is any liquid left, drain it off, but unless you put in a great deal of water at first, there won't be any - the rice will have absorbed it all. Serve with milk, preserves, honey, or sirup. One half cup raisins added to boiled rice impart a fine flavor. Left-over cooked rice may be made into a pudding by the addition of milk and eggs; this, too, is improved by addition of raisins, figs, or cut-up dates. A pudding such as this requires less baking than one made of uncooked rice.