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Rice, with Pears

Wash six ounces of rice, and put it into a saucepan with a quart of milk, the thin rind of a lemon, two table-spoonfuls of sugar, and a piece of butter the size of a small nut. Stir the rice till it boils, then draw it from the fire, and let it simmer gently until it is quite tender and has absorbed the milk. Take it from the fire, and beat it well for three or four minutes, press it into a damp mould, and set it in a cool place to stiffen. Peel and halve a dozen or more ripe pears. Put these into a saucepan with the strained juice of two lemons, a small cupful of water, and half a pound of sugar. Let them simmer till they are tender without being broken. Lift them out gently, and lay them on a dish to cool. Boil the syrup until thick, and, if liked, dissolve in it one or two table-spoonfuls of apricot marmalade. When the rice is to be served, turn it out of the mould, lay the baked pears round it, pour the syrup over, and garnish the rice prettily with angelica, or with strips of lemon-rind laid over it, or with slices of lemon laid upon it. Many cooks stir into the rice after it has boiled four well-beaten eggs and a slice of butter, and beat it over the fire till it is thick, but it will be excellent without these if only the rice is simmered till it is dry, and afterwards beaten till it is smooth. Time, two hours. Probable cost, 1s. 6d., exclusive of the apricot marmalade. Sufficient for five or six persons. RICE, WITH STEWED FRUIT (to have the same effect as cream). Put a breakfast-cupful of rice into a quart of new milk, boil gently for half an hour, stirring occasionally that it may not burn, and stand it aside to get cold. Serve with any kind of stewed fruit, and it will have as good an effect as cream, and will be much more likely to agree with most people. Probable cost, 6d., without the fruit.