News Station's Chili Cook-Off Nearly Boils Over After Reporter Admits That She Cheated

Workplace chili cook-offs usually result in some pretty fierce competition.

Most require that participants make everything from scratch.

But not all.

Some pretty serious animosity can develop among those who took the time to make their chili from scratch when they find out that one of their competitors took short cuts (or just used canned chili).

KGW anchor Maggie Vespa decided to share the story of a chili-related grudge spanning past and present, and the reactions to her shortcuts, on Twitter.

Maggie's story starts off innocently enough.

Forgetting about the competition isn't the end of the world.

Chili isn't that hard to make, right?

Oh, that makes things more complicated.

Her deception didn't go unnoticed.

Confessing to the shortcut didn't help matters, especially once one of her coworkers texted her to ask for the recipe.

His ire is pretty understandable.

Apparently she didn't learn the first time around.

Not even trying to hide it.

And people are apparently falling for it.

Folks on Twitter loved the story.

Several even asked for a photo of the can so they could try it!

Apparently cheating in chili competitions is not uncommon.

Chili really isn't difficult to make as long as you have time to let it simmer in the slow cooker. Points to Maggie for sticking with her canned substitute just for the joke though.

If you'd like to try your hand at making chili, the book The Chili Cookbook: A History of the One-Pot Classic, with Cook-off Worthy Recipes from Three-Bean to Four-Alarm and Con Carne to Vegetarian is available here.