Okay it is a little bit embarrassing, but it is also a little bit funny too. So I have decided to publish the story of the exploding caramel pie.

First I have to briefly explain the recipe because it sounds really strange. It is one that my mom learned about sometime while I was a kid. And it was actually one of my favorite desserts to make and to eat.

Step one is to take a can of Eagle Brand evaporated milk. I suppose another brand would do, but you know how family recipes are. Remove the paper label from the can but do not open the can yet.

Now here is the strange part. Boil the can! Thats right, you heard me correctly, boil the can for 2 hours. Just take a large pasta pot and fill it about one half to three quarters with water and put the can in the water. Then crank up the heat.

Once the water comes to a boil, just continue for two hours. Now here is a very important instruction. So please pay close attention. As the water boils away, be sure to continue to add enough water to keep the can covered!

After the can has been boiling for two hours, remove it from the water and let it cool to room temperature. When the can has sufficiently cooled down, open the can and reveal the rich creamy caramel!

Use a spatula and scoop the caramel into a graham cracker or chocolate cookie pie crust. Top Cool Whip or other creamy topping and you have a very rich and tasty dessert.

One more note about the recipe. You can boil several cans at once. Open the ones you need and place the unopened ones on the shelf to be opened later. The caramel will remain good for months. The only side effect from leaving it too long is that it may begin to form little sugar crystals,

Now onto my embarrassing story if you have not already guessed it.

My wife and I were supposed to bring dessert to a potluck lunch during the holiday season. We had been very busy all week long doing holiday stuff. Staying up late and getting up early. So we were very tired.

We started boiling our two little magic caramel cans at about 1 am that night. That was our biggest mistake. Yep, you guessed it, we both fell fast asleep in the living room. And neither one of us were awake to add the water to keep the cans covered. So the water boiled away and the cans got way too hot. The next thing you know KABOOM! KABOOM!

We both jumped up from our sleep and instantly knew what had happened. So we ran to the kitchen to find that, sure enough, the cans had exploded. Sticky caramel was everywhere! Even on the ceiling. We turned off the stove and moved the pan to the sink. Then we tried to start cleaning the caramel off of the stove, cabinets, floor and ceiling. But it was way too hot to the touch. So we just decided to turn out the lights, go to bed, and tackle the cleaning job in the morning!

Funny. I dont remember what dessert we ended up taking to the potluck the next day!