4 cups berries, hulled (can use all strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries or a combination)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (pure vanilla is best)
In a bowl, roughly mash your berries with a potato masher (you may need to lean into it at first to get them going). Put them into a large skillet with sugar and lemon juice and cook over medium high heat, stirring often and breaking up the large chunks of berry with your spoon, until in thickens and your spoon leaves a trail across the bottom of the pan (this takes anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes depending if you used fresh or frozen berries). Remove from the heat, stir in the vanilla and cool. I love to serve it warm which takes about 10-15 minutes of cooling once you remove it from the heat. Store the rest in the fridge. Makes about 1 1/2 cups.
