Because it's open season on the presidential election and almost the end of summer vacation, inflammatory rhetoric and family barbecues are both on "sizzle." Without careful monitoring by an attentive host, these can end in a conflagration. You have to learn precisely how to gauge temperatures and when to put a lid on it.

It's also true for the grill.

Ready to host a potentially political family picnic? I suggest you take the following quiz to determine your Political Host Profile.

http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/hc-op-barreca-picnics-put-polit...