Adding excerpt of latest post to front page

Having grown tired of looking through dozens of forum posts and codex pages, I have decided to risk ridicule and ask what s probably a bonehead question:

How do I set up my front (static) page so that an excerpt of my latest blog post is displayed?

Is there a plugin, ATO setting, magic incantation? I can't seem to find it anywhere. Lots of Q&A about other things, but nothing so basic as how to make the post excerpt show on the home page.

Thanks for not biting me too hard.