Annamill - I still know that family (the kids are all grown up) and we laugh about it all the time but it sure wasn't funny when it happened.

The baby (an infant) had a chunk of hot pumpkin covering her eye. I knew I couldn't remove it without damaging the eye, so I kept pouring cold water over her face until it slid off. Boy did that baby scream! What was worse, the mother, who was in shock, had to be held back while I did this. My children and my partner (the only help I had) spent hours dipping rags in cold water and wringing them out over the bodies of the four people laying on the floor. My kids were only six and nine. I was very proud of them.

While they were at the hospital, the neighbors came in to clean the pumpkin off the walls and ceiling - it was an amazing mess.

Whenever I see that lovely young woman, I have to get real close and inspect that eye. No scar! We laugh and she gives me a big hug.

Mom is now married to a doctor who knows the story and says it is a miracle that her eye was saved and that nobody had any scars.

Please, never cook a pumpkin without first piercing it let out the steam.

d