ball, ball, ball, ball, balllll!!!!

Since we don't have an automatic ball thrower like Jerry...





We took Smokey to Alki beach on Sunday to get her ball fix. 

Netflix Culture

Netflix is one of my favorite companies from an investment stand point and as innovators in streaming media. While reading up on the company I came across this slide show that was put together for internal use but was leaked at some point. In a nutshell they expect high performance. Employees are expected to continually outperform expectations. Only add process where not doing so leads to chaos. If you don't consistently outperform you're shown the door.  

Finn and Rob playing guitar

I was just taking some pictures off of Holly's camera and found these of me and Finn playing guitars up at our cabin over new years. We just need a few more practice sessions and we'll be ready to play chair 9. 

Really good chicken chili

I've been making this chili for several years now. It's never exactly the same but it's usually something close to this. This is really easy to make and it's always a crowd pleaser.

You will need:
1lb of chicken meet. (I usually use boneless thighs but you can use breast meat.)
3 -5 links of andouille sausage
1 medium onion
3 stocks of celery
3-5 cloves garlic
1 carrot chopped
1 can corn
1 small can pitted and sliced black olives
2 cans diced tomatoes in mexican spices
1 can rotel tomatoes and chiles
2 cans of beans. ( I usually mix this up each time but tend to use at least 1 white bean and then kidney or pinto.)
Sour cream
1 avocado
Shredded cheese
1 cup of chopped cilantro
1 lime
Oil
Salt
Pepper
Chili powder
Cumin
Coriander
Cayenne pepper
Beer
A good size cooking pot


First thing you want to do is open your beer. Once you've had a refreshing sip you will want to chop up your vegetables and then put them to the side. Next put some oil in your pot and put it on the stove medium high heat. Once it starts to smoke a little bit add the chicken. Add a little salt and pepper. Let it brown nicely on each side for  several minutes. You want to cook it until it's a little more than 3/4 the way cooked.

Remove the chicken from the pan and add the chopped onion, celery and carrot and then reduce the heat to medium low. Add a little salt and pepper. While the vegetables are browning chop the chicken and then slice up the andouille sausage into bite size pieces. Once the vegetables are browned and starting to soften add the meat. Let this cook together for at least 5 minutes.

At this point I usually open all of the cans and drain all of the liquid. The order you add them really doesn't matter but I usually start with black olives then the corn, tomatoes and then the beans last and then squeeze about 1/2 a lime into it.

Now that you have everything in the pot you can start to season it. I've never measured this so I won't try and guess here. What I do is start with chili powder and cumin, just enough to give it some flavor. then smaller portions of coriander and cayenne. I'll stir it in good and then put a lid on it letting it simmer. I'll stir it occasionally testing the flavor. Add cumin and chili powder as needed. You shouldn't need to much as all the andouille will really flavor this for you.

Let  is simmer for about 20 - 30 minutes. 

The remaining ingredients are for toppings. Go crazy.

Options: I've swapped out the chicken thighs with ground chicken. Another fun option is to make elbow macaroni and eat the chili on top of it.

Let me know what you think or if you have an suggestions for making it better.