Duck, Duck, Goose

With a full Saturday before me, I decided the time was ripe for two projects: One, an immense decluttering and purging, and two, cooking a duck for the first time ever. (This second, I will admit, was helped along greatly by the fact that Nate had bought a duck and then left it in the fridge, ready to be cooked.)

Anyhow, I'm very pleased with the results of the project one: I'm only sad that I didn't take any before pictures of the messes that were the hall closet, bedroom closet and wardrobe so that the pictures below would seem all the more impressive:





Seen in vignettes as such it doesn't seem like this could be an entire day's work, but yet it was. Although I did draw three to-scale floorplans of the apartment, so there's that.

Project two I am willing to consider fairly successful as well. Given very straightforward directions (season the duck, sear it, then roast it over low heat in a pan over celery, carrots and onions), I followed them to the letter. I also made a quick salad by mixing the leftover corn, parsley and tomato with a little red onion and some olive oil and cider vinegar.



Since Nate was home earlier than expected (hooray!) we ate the corn salad over some greens as an appetizer while the duck finished cooking. Then we had the duck (nice and juicy, although perhaps benefitting from a little more time in the oven), with the vegetables (all delicious in the fat from the duck) and baked potato.



We washed it down with the last remaining Amstel -- and at this point, I think we may have finally cleared out all the second-hand beer.


For dessert, yogurt, of course, with some of Nicole's Haagen-Daas to follow. And tea, in the lovely teapot the Gauvrys gave us as a gift. A very fortifying drink, tea. Just what one might wish to imbibe before taking a stab at the entry way closets...