Life is full of regrets. Today I'm bummed I never quizzed Kevin, the Marketing and Member Services Manager of the People's Food Co-op, about his recipe for green tomato chutney. The following recipe is by no means bland, but his recipe (from River Cottage Preserves Handbook, by Pam Corbin and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall) sounds intriguing.

"The handbook is a nice little gem, printed originally in England ... a people who know their preserves! I wanted to use as much of the produce I'd grown as possible" he said.

"The foundation was pears, green tomatoes and shallots all from our garden, to which I added currants, dried figs, golden raisins and some hot peppers for heat. I used dark brown sugar to really make it dark and rich and simmered it for about two and a half hours."

(Pears? Figs? Sounds wonderful! All I did was throw the tomatoes in a pot with some kitchen staples. In my defense, I was in a hurry. I've got a lot of green tomatoes on the vine and these overnight lows are getting mighty close to freezing. One frost and my little green babies are history.)

"All in all I think it turned out OK though next time I'd use a tad less vinegar and more heat," he continued. "It did pair really nicely with roast turkey and was a wonderful alternative to cranberry sauce -- same family of flavors but something a bit more exotic."

"It made me think about experimenting with a cranberry chutney. We're having turkey sandwiches tonight with the leftovers and will use the chutney as a spread."

Turkey? Cranberries? My conversation with Kevin reminds me that Thanksgiving will be here in a few short weeks!

The following recipe has Southwest flavors fused with the cuisine of India - tomatillas, cumin and ginger. I plucked this recipe off the internet (Cooks.com) last year. Next year I'll try Kevin's. But for now, I can get a peaceful night's sleep knowing my tomatoes have been harvested.

(For more ideas on how to use your October tomatoes, check out last month's tomato blog.)

Yield: 2 cups
Active time: 12 minutes
Simmer time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

2 1/2 pounds green tomatoes
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 cup honey or dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons finely chopped or grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon ground coriander
Cayenne

Directions

1. Wash, core and cut green tomatoes into 1-inch pieces.
2. In a medium-sized heavy bottomed pan, whisk together vinegar, honey or sugar, ginger, garlic, cumin, mustard seeds and coriander. Stir in tomatoes. Bring to a boil then reduce to a low simmer.
3. Cook 1 hour, uncovered, or until sauce has thickened and tomatoes have completely broken down. Add cayenne to taste.