I spent two naptimes last week working exclusively the 12lbs of strawberries my daughter and I picked last week at a farm near our home. One of the ways I chose to preserve some berries was by covering them with vanilla simple syrup and freezing the jars for later. These sweet berries will be delicious spooned over pound cake, stirred
into a pitcher with vodka for cocktails and drizzled over ice-cream! —
Here is my method:
Dissolve 1 c. sugar in 2 c. water over medium heat. Halve a vanilla bean, scrape the seeds and add the pod to the saucepan. Fill two pint jars* with freshly washed and hulled strawberries. Then, add the berries to the jar so they are tightly packed, but not crushing each other. Fill each jar with even amounts of vanilla simple syrup (discard the pods). Tightly close the lid and freeze. To thaw, let jars stand at room temperature, do not immerse in hot water. *Jars can be glass or plastic, make sure they have been sterilized
