Get This Party Started.

If you are going to party for the 4th you are going to need some chow. Fine, but you want to ice up the beer around noon then coast all the way through till the last Ooh and Ah for the big fireworks display. (Why do people Ooh/Ah at fireworks displays? ). That means you need a variety of food stuffs that are easily consumed while spacing them out over a ten hour period so the watermelon from the last post doesn't finish off Grandma. That means we want to start light. Still, we are good Americans so making things, even light things, as tasty and as fattening as possible is what we do.

Seafood, what could be healthier? Bacon, Mmm bacon, what could be tastier? Get yourself a bunch of wooden skewers then soak them in water over night. Fire up one side of your grill. Gas is easy. Only turn on 1 knob stupid. If you are using charcoal you will have to pile them to one side of the grill. Or don't bother, off course the resulting inferno from the melting bacon fat, Mmmm bacon, hitting the hot coals will suck, but you were the one that didn't listen to me. Lid closed at all times please. The grill will be acting as a smokey awesome oven, not a direct heat source.

1. Figure about a quarter pound of scallops per person ( we're just getting started remember? You pig).
2. Cut a bunch of bacon strips in half the long way.
3. Then cut each half strip so it will just wrap a scallop. You only want enough overlap so when you thread them on the skewers there won't be any bacon, Mmmm bacon, flopping around.
4. Wrap the scallops and thread them on the skewers, Duh!
5. Now add a little more flavor. Bottled teriyaki sauce would be nice, or mix equal parts honey and tabasco, or brush them with pesto, use your imagination for god's sake!
6. Place the skewers on the grill away from the direct heat. Turn them after about 10 minutes. When the bacon, Mmmm bacon, looks like it's getting crispy take them off the heat.
7. Eat with ice cold beer.

An important note. You have filled a trash barrel with ice, water, a couple cups of salt if you want things really, really cold, and beer. You can put Sam Adams in there, but really cold means all that great flavor you are paying extra for will be lost. Stick with Bud, or Miller, or even Coors. It's cheaper and by 4 o'clock you won't know the difference.

Our next musical selection is a summertime classic. Which is the point of a summer playlist after all.