About Talia Whyte

Posts by Talia Whyte:

What’s Cooking: Frito Pie

I am going to a barbeque today and I plan to bring a very American dish – Frito Pie!  This wonderful concoction originates from the Southwest.  I was first introduced to it when I went on a brief business trip out to Albuquerque many years ago.  It is basically chili con carne eaten out of a bag of Fritos.  This being New Mexico, there was also a dash of red and green chile, making it a “Christmas” Frito pie.  New Mexico cuisine is a mix of Mexican, Spanish and Native American foods.

I went to the National Museum of the American Indian in May and tried a version with Bison meat and cornbread. It was pretty good!

For the party tonight, I will be making it as a casserole with the Fritos at the bottom of the bowl, instead of pouring it into Frito bags.

Frito Pie Recipe

Here’s my recipe.  If you want to do a vegetarian version, ignore turkey instructions and brings beans and mixture to boil.

  • Two pounds lean ground turkey
  • A quarter cup of sliced jalapenos
  • Two tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • One tablespoon of garlic
  • One cup of frozen corn
  • Two can (15 ounces) red or black beans, rinsed and drained optional
  • Four-1/2 cups Fritos corn chips
  • Two cups shredded lettuce (optional)
  • One-1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
  • 3/4 cup chopped tomatoes
  • Six tablespoons finely chopped onion
  • Sour cream and minced fresh cilantro (optional)

In a six-quart stockpot, cook turkey over medium heat until it’s light brown, breaking into crumbles; drain. Stir in red chile sauce, flour, salt, jalapenos, and garlic until blended. Gradually stir in beans.
Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 12-15 minutes or until thickened, stirring occasionally.

To serve, pour Frito chips into the casserole dish and pour chili mixture on top of it. Then put cheese on top and put in the oven until the cheese is melted at 360 degrees.  Take out of oven and top with lettuce, tomatoes, and onion. If desired, top with sour cream. Should make 4-6 servings.

What Moral Leadership Looks Like

A couple of weeks ago, I saw Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, the new documentary around TV legend Mr. Rogers.  I loved watching Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood as a child, but it wasn’t until I was older when I fully understood and appreciated the cultural and social significance of the show.

I also started to realize that this country no longer has someone to look up to for moral leadership in this country.  It is quite depressing how far away this country has drifted away for right and wrong.  I would like to think that if Mr. Rogers was still alive today, he would stand up for the children who are being taken away from their immigrant parents at the Mexican border,

Kindness and empathy shouldn’t have to be something that has to be debated or taught; it should just be obvious.

Pose: Race and Ball Culture

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I have become an instant fan of Pose, a great new FX show about 1980s ballroom culture.  The show is reminiscent of the seminal documentary Paris Is Burning, which similarly showcases LGBT Blacks and Latinos’ lives in New York City.

Balls have a long history, starting around the 1900s, which were more like fashion shows and pageants.  Back then, they even did ballroom dancing and were judged on appearance and costume.  Queens of color were generally not invited to these events.  When they were invited, they were expected to lighten their skin and straighten their hair to compete.  Sometimes these balls were rigged in favor of white queens.  The 1968 documentary The Queen, which is about the 1967 Miss All-American Camp Beauty Pageant drag contest, is, in my opinion, a very boring film, but you can watch it here if you want.  Near the end of the film, it is most interesting when the winner declared is a mediocre, forgettable white queen near the 56-minute mark.  A much prettier, legendary black queen named Crystal LaBeija, who stormed off the stage when she is awarded third place, should have won the contest.  The video below shows LaBeija reading the poor white queen for filth.  I can watch this video all day!

“I will sue the bitch!”

“I have a right to show my color, darling.  I am beautiful, and I know I’m beautiful.”

The short clip is not only significant for LaBeija’s fierce reading, but it also marked an important cultural shift.  LaBeija didn’t sue anybody; what she did do was revolutionize ball culture. LaBeija and fellow queen Lottie hosted their own ball just for black queens a few years later.  They also started House of LaBeija, and Crystal led the house as the “mother.”  The first ball for queens of color was actually hosted in 1962 by Marcel Christian, who would also change her surname to LaBeija.  But House of LeBeija holds the distinction of being the first house to host a ball.  After LaBeija’s ball, other houses were created.  A house is a group of LGBT-identified folks who compete in balls together and create an emotional support system for group members, many of whom are young, black, and gay and shunned by their biological families because of their sexual and gender identities.  A house is a family, and this house system still exists today, thanks to Crystal LaBeija.

After LaBeija died in 1982, Pepper LaBeija became the house’s mother.  In addition to the House of LaBeija, there is the House of Xtravaganza, one of the first predominately Latino houses, House of Dupree and House of Ninja, founded by famed voguing dancer Willi Ninja.  All four of these houses were featured in Paris Is Burning.

This movie still is influential even to this day.  Madonna culturally appropriated voguing into a dance craze.  Terms like “shade,” “work,” “gag,” “fierce,” and “giving face” are now part of the normal lexicon.  Pepper LaBeija and Dorian Corey taught us why reading is fundamental and inspired a new generation on Viceland’s My House.

Darling, our culture is better because of ball culture.

The Mindset of a Content Strategist

The world "Content"Whether it is posting on the company blog or creating videos for YouTube, content marketing plays an important role in how businesses get the word out to their customer bases.  Many corporations today hire full-time staff members just to run their online content strategies.  However, this is not a financially viable option for most small businesses and nonprofits that operate with limited employees and resources.  

Luckily, there are many tools and strategies available today that can help smaller organizations have the mindset of a content strategist.  

  1. Branding: Knowing what your company is and what it represents will give you the best guidance on how to create a content strategy.
  2. Customer base: Who buys your products or services?  What is the best way to communicate with them?  Facebook? Blogging? Twitter? etc
  3. Marketing goals: What are your marketing goals and objectives both in the short and long-term?
  4. Budget: Can you afford to implement a content strategy?  Do you need to hire someone to do it?
  5. Time: How much time is needed to implement a strategy on a regular basis?  Will you need to have your employees split the responsibilities of creating content?    
  6. Editorial guidelines: It is best to set up guidelines to clarify acceptable content that can be published, such as tone, topics, and formats.
  7. Editorial calendar: This is a simple calendar that shows when and what content is being created and published.
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