Strawberry syrup

I recently bought some strawberries from the local big-box grocery, as they were on sale, and looked like they were in pretty good shape. We ate some of them, but as little man tends to get facial rashes when he eats too many, and hubby hardly ever touches raw fruit unless it's an apple, the berries were getting old fast. Since i had just recently made strawberry fro-yo, and even more recently made some delish vanilla ice cream, i decided to take the berries and turn them into strawberry syrup, to top said icy goodness. I searched the net, and found a few recipes, compared them, then made my own. here it is:

Strawberry Sauce
1 pint strawberries
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp lemon juice 
1 tsp oil or butter (optional)


1. rinse strawberries, remove tops, then dice or chop flesh. add sugar, and stir. Leave this mixture for about an hour, or until the sugar has pretty much dissolved 


*side note* i've heard this is the best way to make mediocre strawberries taste good. it brings out the flavor more than just cooking them right away


2. puree all or most (as desired) of the berries. add all berries, syrup and sauce to a pot. add lemon juice. 


 3. cook the berries on medium, stirring frequently. When they begin to boil, you can add the oil, if desired. it will keep the 'frothiness' to a minimum.

4. boil for about 5 minutes. if you intend to use syrup cold, or the sauce is already thick enough, go to step 5. if the sauce is intended for use hot, and is to thin, add the following:

2 tsp corn starch
2tbs water
mix together the starch and water in a seperate cup. add to the berries, whisking constantly. boil 2 more minutes to cook the starch.

5. this syrup can be used immediately, or stored (or even canned) for later use. i poured my syrup into jars, and found that the full jars sealed (however, i know that i didn't can them properly, so plan on keeping them refrigerated until use)  Makes just over 2 cups syrup. yum!