Adapting to what’s at hand is all a matter of tolerance and taste. You try a new restaurant, encounter heretofore unusual dishes and preparations and you’re not sure whether to sneer and walk out or embrace the new with wide, expectant eyes.

What is that foie gras rolled in almond dust? Am I supposed to eat it? Yuck. Of course, someone’s invention turns out to be extraordinary. Most likely you won’t prepare it at home. But at least one lost soul has tread on extraterrestrial ground.

After all we’ve been eating the same sort of foods for centuries and need variety once in a while no matter how obscure

Right now there’s a lot of trendy, faddish cooking going on that often seems loopy and far-fetched.

Remember nouvelle cuisine? Lobster bisque with vanilla essence ? Oh, such nonsense. But it finally came to pass and lingers in the mainstream as an alternative.

Going with the flow happens to us all the time when we cook. Today I had my mind set on serving a leg of lamb for dinner tonight. I had invited a few friends over and as of this morning I hadn’t really decided on a menu, other than it would revolve around lamb.

I went to the Cumberland Farmer’s Market and visited Sunrise Acres Farms to buy their delicious organic lamb. They always have lamb in various cuts, but today the only suitable one for me was a butterflied leg, which I bought. I really wanted a leg on the bone.

I then stopped by the Spring Brook Farms and bought two of their last cuts of pork—a tenderloin and a sirloin roast. Both were frozen but they will do fine to have on hand stored in the freezer until ready to use. The stock at area farms will be in flux for the next couple of weeks, with the interruption caused by the Cumberland Fair and the replenishing of crops and foodstuffs. I always have something in the freezer, which with a few days of forethought I can have ready to cook.

But today my dilemma was what to do with the lamb that I obviously couldn’t put on the grill, given the wet weather. I figured I’d think up some way to cook it. But a butterflied leg of lamb just begs to be grilled. I could have set up a big patio umbrella over my barbecue to protect the grill from any inclemency, but it all seemed like too much trouble.

I started to devise the rest of the menu as I walked around the market. I bought a dozen corn, some of which would go into a corn pudding, and the rest would be scraped off the cob to put in freezer bags to use sometime later in the frosty depths of winter.

I had a beautiful Savoy cabbage at home that I bought at Portland’s Wednesday market and figured I’d serve that with the lamb--perhaps braise it and lay the lamb slices over the cabbage. I made up a recipe in my head: sauté some good bacon, primarily to get the flavor essence, then add chopped onions to a few tablespoons of the bacon fat mixed with butter or olive oil, then sauté shredded cabbage; add chicken stock and braise it for a short while, just enough to render it tender but still slightly crunchy.

I bought shell beans, otherwise known as cranberry beans. These would be simply prepared—boiled, tossed with butter or olive oil, a hint of garlic, lemon zest and herbs. I like to serve three vegetables with a main course.

The first course will be a tomato soup. There are plenty of tomatoes around, and the farmers are trying to get rid of them before they spoil. I’ll prepare a simple puree mixed with cream and mint.

Dessert is a cinch. Blueberry pie. What could be finer and more appropriate as we meet the last gasp of those low-bush berries?

But the lamb. What was I going to do to it? I started looking at some cookbooks for ideas. The obvious route was to stuff it, roll it up, secured with string and roast it in the oven.

I found just what I wanted in the Union Square Cafe Cookbook. It’s a mixture of lemon zest, golden raisins, bread crumbs, garlic and a big mix of herbs. It’s moistened with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. It's put on the lamb and rolled up,tied and roasted until mediuim rare. It sounds delicious and the problem of the lamb preparation has been solved.

I’m pleased with the menu, and I was getting a little tired of summer fare anyway. It’s still not cold enough to think that fall has arrived in full force, but tonight’s dinner will be a good and welcome change of tastes and textures.

But let me leave you with at least one recipe. I’d give you the recipes for tonight’s dinner, but I haven’t tested any of them yet.

Here, then, is My Favorite Apple Pie

The secret to this pie is to use a variety of apples, which are plentiful at the markets and in season now. I generally mix Jona Gold, Cortland, Macoun, Macintosh and a small sweet Delicious apple. In total about 7 to 8 apples is plenty for a 9-inch pie.

Peel and core the apples and cut into half-inch thick slices. Put into a mixing bowl and sweeten with a ½ cup each of white sugar and brown sugar, or use a cup of one or the other. Season the apples with cinnamon to taste, a trace of nutmeg and a tablespoon or two of flour. Mix well.

Transfer to a 9-inch glass pie dish lined with a bottom crust. Dot with about 1 tablespoon of butter and a drop of vanilla extract. Affix the top crust, pinching the two crusts together to make a decorative border; cut a few slits across the top and lightly brush with a mixture of one beaten egg and a touch of heavy cream. Sprinkle the pastry with about one tablespoon of sugar. Put it on a baking sheet and into a 425 degree oven for 15 minutes, then lower the heat to 375 degrees and continue to bake, about another 35 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown and the apple mixture is bubbling.

Pastry dough: Put 2 cups all-purpose flour into a food processor and add one tablespoon of sugar. Process for a few seconds just to combine. Add 8 ounces (16 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter cut into ½ inch slices. Process until the mixture is crumbly and resembles small peas. Add gradually 1/3 to ½ cup cold water as you pulse the mixture. Process until the dough just leaves the side of the bowl.

Removed to a floured surface, form into a ball and separate into 2 balls, one slightly larger than the other. Pat the dough down so that it’s somewhat flat but do not handle the dough too much. Wrap each piece in waxed paper and refrigerate for at least one house. Use as needed.

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