Loving plums is unavoidably in my blood. IN SEASON: PLUMSMy German gran was a master of zwetschgenkuchen - addictive yeast-dough cake topped with tart damson plums (only slightly less a mission to make than it is to pronounce).My mother makes a more French- style buttery base topped with the same sharp, hardly sweetened, plum filling. My father regularly gets into bottling mode in late summer, boiling up enough pots of the fruit to make an excellent jam for the entire year.I don't have the patience for either the yeast cake or the jam, but I do love plums, and because my children are mad for them, I like to have them around as long as the season holds.This often means plums quickly approaching their sell-by-date. A plum's ripeness is as volatile as a pear's, so I need things to do with them before they die. Here are two of my favourite ideas for plums on their last legs. I like deep red varieties best for these recipes, but really good greengage plums will work, too.Spicy plum chutney (incredible with duck, pork, turkey, or on a cheese sandwich).750g plums / 300g Spanish onions / 3/4 cup raisins / 1 cup light muscovado sugar / ( teaspoon) crushed dried chilli / 1 teaspoon salt / 2 teaspoons yellow mustard seeds / ( cup) apple cider or rice vinegar / ( cup) brown vinegar / 1 cinnamon stick.How: halve the plums and discard the pits. Peel and finely slice the onions. Put the fruit and onions into a large stainless steel pan with the raisins, sugar, chilli, salt, mustard seeds, vinegars, and cinnamon stick.Bring to a boil, turn down the heat and leave to simmer for an hour uncovered, giving the occasional stir to reduce the risk of sticking.If still too liquid, keep simmering. Spoon into two sterilised bottles and seal immediately.Cheat's plum and almond ice cream (actually this is technically more like semifreddo).So easy, so good. 300g plums / 1 litre cream / 1 x 397g tin sweetened condensed milk / 200g roasted salted almonds, crushed / a squeeze of lemon juice.How: halve plums and roast uncovered with a scattering of sugar until softening. Remove stones. Place plums in a sieve to strain out any excess juices (but don't press on them). Roughly chop them. In a large bowl, whip the cream and lemon juice until you have soft peaks. Fold condensed milk into the cream. Transfer to a freezer container and freeze. After an hour or so remove and stir in plums and almonds. Try not to over mix as you want to end up with distinct ripples. Cover and return to the freezer until set. Eat within a few days...