Food Friday: Strawberry Sauce

As it turns out, New Jersey isn't called the Garden State for nothing.  The strawberry season is upon us and in the last few weeks, I have bought pint after pint of fresh, locally-grown berries.  We've enjoyed strawberry shortcake, strawberry pie, and sliced berries.  And this week I remembered my recipe for strawberry sauce (my grandmother would have called this a compote).  I served it over vanilla ice cream but it would also be good on pancakes or French toast or served over a piece of poundcake, or how about all of the above?

The Recipe
2 pints of strawberries, hulled and sliced
6 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup of sugar (if the berries aren't really fresh, you might want more….let your taste buds be the guide)
2 tablespoons corn starch

Set aside 1 cup of the sliced berries.

The rest go in a saucepan with the water, vanilla, sugar, and corn starch.

 Stir over medium heat, mixing well.  The goal is to bring this mix to a boil and then stir it for 1 minute, as it thickens.

 When it thickens, remove it from the heat; give it one more stir, and then add in the cup of sliced berries. 

Mix well and serve whenever you like.  Leftovers (if you have any), can be stored in the fridge.

Yum.