Blueberry Pucker Conserve

At the end of the blueberry season, I bought 2 bags of pie/canning berries from a vendor at the Ferry Building, meaning to can them right away. However, life interfered and they ended up in my freezer for months. Feeling a need to clear out that space, Lisa and I met to can them. Our projects turned out to be Blueberry-Lime Jam, an in-process fermented blueberry syrup, and Doris and Jilly's Lime Pucker Conserve: link here. This is a wonderful recipe, as is, but we did modify it a bit, adding more citrus than called for in the original. We also found that it needed a much longer cooking time to gel. Perhaps because the berries had been frozen?

Blueberry Pucker Conserve

12 cups frozen blueberries
8 cups sugar
1 1/2 c coarsely chopped walnuts
About 24 dried apricots, chopped
4 lemons, plus the juice of 4 more

Julienne 4 of the lemon, and juice the other 4. (Next time we will probably just add all 8).
Toss everything in a pot, stir, and turn on medium heat. Stir gently until the blueberries start to break down and the sugar melts. Meanwhile, bring a pot of water to boil for the water bath.
 Bring the blueberry mix to a boil and cook rapidly to the gelling point, approximately 40 minutes. Be sure to keep an eye on it—it will foam.
Fill jars and process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes.