Mostly Eating

Apple compote with rosewater
Inspired by a comment in Nigel Slater's The Kitchen Diaries (note: I like a strong rosewater flavour so add 1 tbsp if you're not so sure)

2.5kg apples (whole weight)
200g sugar (I used organic golden caster sugar)
2 tablespoons rosewater
Squirty lemon juice

Wash the apples well (I dunked mine in a washing up bowl for some time to get all the wildlife out). Roughly peel an apple (missing a bit of peel here and there doesn't matter) and slice large chunks off the apple until you are left with just the core to discard. Throw away any grotty bits as you go. Chop the chunks into large bite sized pieces and repeat until you run out of apples. Put the apples into a large pan as you go, occasionally squirting in a bit of lemon juice and tossing to stop them turning overly brown.

Add the sugar and lemon juice and heat gently for about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon (if you have a lot of apples you might need to put a lid on the pan to begin to help the heat permeate through the whole batch). Stop when some of the apple has turned to mush but the largest chunks still have a bit of bite left. Taste for sweetness and add extra sugar if needed. Freeze in batches until required.

Plum compote with vanilla
As suggested by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, but with much less sugar

2kg plums
200g sugar
1 vanilla pod

Wash the plums thoroughly. Halve each plum and remove the stone, cutting each half again for the larger plums. Place the plums in a large pan.

Scrape the seeds out of the vanilla pod and put both the seeds and the pod into the pan with the plums. Add the sugar and heat for about twenty minutes until the plums are soft but still retain their shape. Taste for sweetness and add extra sugar if needed. Remove the vanilla pod.

Drain off most of the excess liquid before you freeze but don't throw it away. This part is the cook’s treat and as Hugh says makes a fine plumbena). Freeze in batches until required.