Poulet Normand and Mystery Cheese

Dinner was really nice. Final menu: Roast chicken with herb and giblet stuffing, roast potatoes, fresh peas, mesclun salad with a fancy cheese plate that the lady at the cremarie put together for me (I didn't even ask what the cheeses were, since she labeled each of them with a little card as she arranged the plate. So when I passed the dish around and everyone started giggling, I was totally confused. I don't know what it was supposed to say, but one cheese was apparently labelled 'Trou de Cul'- in English that would be 'asshole'. Misprint or Freudian slip? Admittedly, I was being a bit of a pain about choosing my cheeses, but still.), followed by strawberries from the South of France and fresh cream with a bit of red wine and rosemary sauce. I kept telling myself that it was a really simple dinner, nothing fancy, just 6 people, and sort of underestimated the amount of work that I still had to do. So I was incredibly grateful that one of my friends offered to come early and help me get stuff ready. Of course, that meant that instead of doing some last minute cleaning in the kitchen (like unloading the dishwasher) I parked myself on the balcony with a glass of champagne and some nibbles. By the end of the meal, there were dirty dishes covering ever surface in the kitchen, plus all the stupid wine/water/champagne glasses that don't go in the dishwasher were still on the table. I hate waking up with a hangover, but its even worse when you have to wade through piles of dirty dishes, empty bottles, and trash to even get to that first cup of coffee. Luckily, the cleaning lady showed up at 10:30 and worked magic. I just took Ella out to run on the quais and watch the boats, while I just laid there and soaked up the sun. Still feeling a bit ill and so will leave it there. Sadly, I forgot to take a photo of the roast chicken! They were gorgeous since I used the recipe for Poulet Normande which is basted with cream to make the skin a lovely dark brown color. Promise that the next Julia recipe will absolutely, most definitely be photographed.