It’s a Friday, I’m in the middle of an afternoon meeting with my team, and I notice my phone light up with a text from my husband Jason.

“Just ran into Jen and Patrick and invited them and their friends visiting from NC over for Supper. 7:30 cool?”

I reply with a 👍 and return focus to my team.

When I tried Mark Bittman’s NY Times Cooking recipe for Easy Roast Duck I was skeptical. How could cooking a whole duck be THIS simple AND taste Flaweless? I mean the only ingredients are duck, pepper and soy sauce!! No marinading? No drying for 48 hours hanging in your refrigerator? No complicated orange lacquer?