Merryweather pies for autumn

" 'A true Merryweather,' he said at last in his deep rumbling voice.  'One of the silver Merryweathers, straight and arrogant and fastidious, brave and the soul of honour, born at the full moon.  We shall like each other, my dear, for I was born at midday; and your moon Merryweathers and your sun Merryweathers always take a fancy for one another...' "

"It was a delight to watch Marmaduke Scarlet making pastry, for if ever a man was a master-craftsman at his work that man was Marmaduke.  He wielded his rolling-pin like a king's sceptre, and so light was his pastry that it looked more like sea-foam than dough as he flicked it over on his board.  Beside him stood a great dish full of succulent chunks of veal and ham, hard-boiled eggs, parsley, and chopped onion.  Maria's mouth watered as she looked at it, and when he swung the great oval of white pastry over it she had to swallow hard.  Then he started to make the decorations for the top of it, his skilful fingers pinching out flowers and leaves from the dough with an artistry that any sculptor might have envied."

-- A Little White Horse, Elizabeth Goudge, a very favorite.