Instructions: Pour the blueberries into a saucepan and crush them with a potato masher or a wooden spoon until most of the skins are broken.

Add 1 cup of water and strips of lemon peel and bring to a simmer.

Turn heat down to low and cook the berries for 5 minutes at just under a simmer.

Pour the hot berries into a strainer lined with two layers of cheesecloth and let the blueberry juice drip through. Twist the cloth to extract all the juice.

There should be about 2 cups.

Discard the berry pulp.

Combine the remaining 2 cups water with the sugar in a small saucepan. Bring the mixture to a boil, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is clear. Wash down the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush, the boil the syrup, without stirring, until it reaches 260 degrees on a candy thermometer.

Add the blueberry syrup to the sugar syrup and bring the mixture to boil. Boil for 1 minute. Let the syrup cool, then add lemon juice to taste.

Pour the syrup into two pint jars and refrigerate if you plan to use it in a month or two.

To can (for indefinite storage), pour into canning jars with 1/2 inch headspace.

Process in hot water bath for 30 minutes. Cool.

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