So, my daughter Courtney bought a new kitchen appliance for herself, a quesadilla maker.  The quesadillas were indeed yummy.  The thing is, my daughter (and I) suffer from dyslexia.  I have more or less overcome this, but Courtney has not.  Why do I mention this?  Well, she was telling us that she was making Kwanzaas.  She had misread the box, and when we tried to correct her, she told us that we were wrong, since Kwanzaa started with a “qu.”  We told her that we were pretty sure this was not the case; that Kwanzaa was a modern African-American winter season celebration, not a food product, but she kept making Kwanzaas anyway.  She then told us that she preferred her Kwanzaas with tobacco.  OK, this was strange, especially for a 13 year old, so I asked if she was smoking while eating her Kwanzaa.  Of course she denied this.  One usually sprinkles tobacco on their Kwanzaas.  So, tobacco is a food ingredient?  “Right,” she said, “you sprinkle it on your Kwanzaa.”  “OH, Tabasco,” I said.   “You are putting hot sauce on your Kwanzaa.”  “Right, tobacco.”

Later that evening, Courtney made another “Kwanzaa”-related quip.  She said that she didn’t like people who smoke Tabasco.  I told her that I agreed, smoking Tabasco might hurt, and it would probably be unpleasant for those around them as well.  She then exclaimed “You know, George Washington grew a lot of Tabasco – he was a Tabasco farmer.”  I then said, “You mean tobacco.  Remember, Tabasco goes on quesadillas.”  “Kwanzaas,” she said.  “The tobacco goes on Kwanzaas.”