Pick over fresh blueberries, then rinse and drain them. If using packaged frozen berries, thaw them in their bags or wrappings; be careful to keep all the juice.

Crush berries thoroughly, in two batches, with a potato masher or the bottom of a heavy bottle or chop them coarsely in batches in a food processor.

Scrape berries into a preserving pan, including any juice from frozen berries. Taste them; they should be pleasantly tart. If they lack tartness, add 2 to 4 tb. Lemon juice, to taste. Stir in sugar. Set pan over medium-high heat, bring the mixture to a boil, and boil mixture rapidly, stirring constantly, until it passes the jelly test. The time required for reduction will depend on how juicy the berries are.

Ladle boiling-hot jam into hot, clean half-pint canning jars, leaving 1/4" of headspace. Seal jars with new two-piece canning lids according to manufacturer's directions; process for 15 minutes in a boiling-water bath. Cool, label, and store jars. Keeps for at least a year in a cool pantry.

Witty writes: "Wild blueberries may be tiny, but oh, my - their spicy fragrance and flavor just can't be matched by the big cultivated berries, however beautiful and juicy the tame fruit may be. Wild blueberries don't need spice or other enhancement when they're made into preserves, but unless they are unusually tart, a little lemon juice is needed."

From "Fancy Pantry" by Helen Witty. New York: Workman Publishing Company, Inc., 1986. Pp. 123-124. Isbn 0-89480-037-X. Posted by Cathy Harned. From: Cathy Harned