Chili Champ!

Every year my department (AIR 4.3.5 - Air Vehicle Engineering) holds a chili-cookoff somewhere near St. Patrick's day. This was my fourth year entering a chili, and here's a quick breakdown:

Year 1: I had never made chili before, so I pulled a recipe off the internet that looked interesting. It includes macaroni and corn, and receives no votes. As a side note, I was really hoping to capture "Rookie of the Year" honors. The only other rookie was going to bring in a green chili, and in the words of my coworker Rick, "Thinking outside the box is not rewarded in the Chili Cookoff." Unfortunately, another rookies enters at the last minute and steals the award! My buddy Mike tries to give me the nickname "Chili-mac." Luckily, it doesn't stick.

Year 2: Undiscouraged, I make my white-chicken chili that everyone loves, and finish third. No nicknames are issued, because Mikey likes it.

Year 3: I make my white-chicken chili that everyone loves, and finish second.

Year 4: Trying a different tack, I find a recipe for "Taco-Chili" on the internet. Results?
That's right, first place! And this year there were 11 entrants, so that's nothing to scoff at. Although, it's a somewhat hollow victory, because it wasn't my recipe. But hey, a win's a win! I actually got it from the Food Network website. I went with Paula Deen, because I figured if her chili was as good as her gooey cake (modified to be chocolate mint - a la Karen) I'd be set! Here's the recipe. All I really did differently was that I used canned beans instead of dried ones, and chicken broth instead of water (which I do in a lot of recipes). Oh, and ground turkey instead of ground beef, but that's a given. It actually wasn't very taco-y. Just chili-y. Maybe I'm just not a connoisseur.

So I shall proudly display my plaque in my cube, and enjoy my victory until next year when I try to defend my championship.