Strawberry Topping

This weekend I bought a whole box of strawberries.    My neighbor bought some from a special fruit truck and her husband also bought some.  She decided that 30 lbs of strawberries was too much for her, and so I bought a 10 lb box from her.   They were wonderful tasting, sweet and juicy!  I usually deal with California strawberries from the store, but these came from Florida, and I think they were better than any I've had in a long time!

Ten pounds of juicy red strawberries!

We ate some right away, and I have a couple pints left for eating later.  This afternoon I made a most wonderful Strawberry Topping for ice cream or waffles or pancakes.   It turned out great.   I made 4 jars of it, and had a little left over, so we had homemade waffles tonight for supper and used up the small amount that was left.

Yummy topping on the waffle!  (Please excuse the burned corner of one waffle!)

Tonight I am finishing up 9 jelly jars of preserves.  I like to make preserves rather than jam, as it is more fruity and can also be used as a topping if desired.   I can tell you that these jars of strawberry goodies are not going to last very long!  They are SO tasty!
Here is the recipe I used for the topping.  It is from a great book by Linda J Amendt called Blue Ribbon Preserves.   I have gotten so many great recipes from this book, and all of them that I have tried were perfect.   The preserves recipe is just from the current edition of the Ball Blue Book.
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STRAWBERRY TOPPING

5 cups of hulled and sliced fresh strawberries

1 1/2 c. sugar 

3/4 c. water 

2 T fresh lemon juice

few drops of red food coloring

Using a vegetable masher, gently crush 2 cups of the strawberries and set the remaining berries aside. 

     In a large saucepan, combine the sugar and water.   Over medium heat, stir and heat  until the sugar is completely dissolved.   Stir in the crushed strawberries.   Increase the heat to medium high and bring the mix to a boil.   Reduce heat and simmer the mix for 5 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking.   Then stir in the remaining berries and the lemon juice.   Add a few drops of food coloring if you like a deeper color topping, but this is optional.  Simmer on high heat stirring constantly for 1 minute.   Remove from heat and ladle the berry topping into hot jars, leaving 1/2 inch head space.   Put on lids and rings and process in a water bath for 10 minutes for half pints and 15 minutes for pints.  

Makes about 4 1/2 jelly jars of topping. 

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The Ball recipe for preserves makes 9 jelly jars of preserves with a little left over.  Preserves are also good as a coffee cake topping, over ice cream, or as a filling for jelly roll cake, and of course it is great over fresh biscuits or bread. 

If you get a chance to get access to a bunch of strawberries, I encourage you to try the topping recipe.   It is more like a sauce than jam, but so good!!
Edited to add a photo:   I couldn't resist taking a picture of the jars of strawberry topping on my pantry shelf - don't they look scrumptious?

Jars of strawberry topping waiting for a bowl of ice cream!