chicken paprikash

if i remember it correctly, i was in sixth grade when i finally got a cd player for christmas. it was the first year in our new house and one of the only times i can remember waking up christmas morning in my own house. usually we went to our grandparents'. that year, they came to us.

i was so excited. it was a sony boombox that not only played cds, but had a radio, dual tape deck - for making mix tapes - and removable speakers. pretty soon after the holiday i bought my first cd, the bodyguard soundtrack - which i still have tucked away in a box of other random memorabilia. i've still never seen the movie, but that didn't stop me from playing it so many times in the next five years that i'm surprised it still plays. i can remember so vividly sitting at my desk, doing math homework after a basketball game, with whitney belting out the words to 'i'm every woman'. it was good to be a kid of the '90s.

what do the bodyguard and christmas gifts from the early '90s have to do with this paprikash? absolutely nothing. but this time of year, between thanksgiving and before the rush of christmas starts, i always think of past gifts. gifts i've received and gifts i've given. each year i remember something different and the memory strikes me at the most random time. this year, i was walking in to daycare, when forever reason, i thought of that christmas, more than 15 years ago.

chicken paprikash
45 minutes, serves 8
click to get the recipe at annie's eats.