Oscar-Winning Actress Brie Larson and Chef Courtney McBroom Pen a Cookbook for ‘Party People’
At a presidential debate party in 2016, chef and former Milk Bar culinary director Courtney McBroom was making queso on the stovetop of a friend’s house.
“It was just getting melted, but it wasn’t done yet,” recalls McBroom, a native Texan who has the cheesy dish down to an art form. “Brie [Larson] walked in and immediately, she was like, ‘What’s that?’ — and grabbed a chip and dipped it right into the pot. She’s like, ‘This is the best thing I’ve ever tasted,’” McBroom says. “And I knew immediately that we would be best friends.”
“I’m like, crazy about melted cheese,” says Larson. “As a child, I used to go to the movies, and I would get a big popcorn and a side of nacho cheese, and I would sit there and dip my popcorn,” says the actress, who won an Oscar for her lead role in 2015’s Room and scored Emmy, Golden Globe and Critics Choice Award nods for portraying a scientist-turned-cooking show host in Apple TV+’s 2023 series Lessons in Chemistry. “So, yeah, that’s how we met,” she says of McBroom, “and it was pretty quickly that we became very close friends — but also very quickly that we started throwing parties together.”
McBroom, who’d moved to L.A. around 2014 after eight years in New York, had been putting on pop-up events with fellow Milk Bar alum Leslie Behrens. “Ever since I was a kid, I was always wanting to cook for people and throw dinner parties,” says McBroom, whose menus for the “Large Marge” takeovers at restaurants like Son of a Gun included her famed queso. “Some things never change,” she jokes.
Sacramento-born and L.A.-reared Larson learned a lot about throwing events from her mother. “My mom’s a party planner and I was homeschooled, so I would go with her to these places,” she says of gathering supplies. “My mom was always really good at learning: Like, when she did her own wedding, she got her flowers at Vons or Ralph’s. She was like, ‘Oh, I can go to these grocery stores and get the flowers way cheaper.’”
Courtney McBroom and Brie Larson share a love of themed events.Credit: Courtesy of DK of Penguin Random House
Together, the women teamed up to unite their friends under creative pretenses. “At the height of Game of Thrones, we would throw viewing parties,” says McBroom. “One Sunday, we did a feast for the King in the North and made a crown roast — because, ‘Who will wear the crown?’ And all of our friends would come, we’d have this huge feast and we’d sing the opening credits together.”
“That was for the final season,” adds Larson. “I love viewing parties. I used to throw Bachelor–Bachelorette parties. It was like, every Monday, you come to my house. You can buy — for like $40, on Amazon — a beverage fountain, and I would put red wine in it. We would have a red wine fountain and snacks, and play bingo: You write down a bunch of things that people normally say, like, ‘Can I steal him for a minute?’ And then if it happens, you have your daubers. I love that type of thing, because it’s a communal gathering [where] people can come that week, or they can’t, but we all are sitting and watching TV anyway, so we might as well do it [together].”
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Other celebrations have included a Dirty Dancing-themed birthday party (complete with a Spaghetti Arms pasta al limone dish and an I Carried a Watermelon salad) and an annual Hot Dog Appreciation Club Festival — honoring a food they love, though constantly debate over whether it should be categorized as a “sandwich.”
Brie Larson and Courtney McBroom started a Hot Dog Appreciation Club Festival.Credit: Courtesy DK of Penguin Random House
Larson’s favorite of their parties was also the one she considers the hardest: a murder-mystery event they threw a year ago. “We probably spent a month of our lives planning that party, and another year recovering from it,” says Larson. “We turned my house into a cruise ship. When you came in, Courtney was there in her little Purser outfit, and you got checked in, which meant we took away your phone and we gave you your name tag, and you got a bag that had your objectives in it, and a bunch of fake money. You could bribe people, and there was an award for whoever had the most money, [so] people were stealing from each other. It was just five hours of playing pretend. And there were probably 50 adults, all in costume, who showed up fully in character.”
The acclaimed actress, who’s starred in films like 2019’s Captain Marvel and 2017’s The Glass Castle, spent five hours performing as a cocktail waitress named Margarita Rocks. “[She] really wants a chance to be performing on the cruise ship and is constantly being told ‘no.’ And does that mean that she murdered to get to her spot at the top? We just don’t know,” jokes Larson, who spent a lot of time with McBroom assigning characters. “That part was a lot of work, but we did good casting, I have to say,” Larson says. “And there’s nothing funnier than watching your parents act like somebody they’ve never been before, and arguing with your friend, who’s playing a police officer.”
The party also cemented ideas for their budding cookbook. “That one helped us solidify some of the ethos of the book,” says Larson of the idea that came about after the women partnered on Lessons in Chemistry — on which book adaptation Larson served as executive producer and star, and McBroom was head food consultant.
“That was the first time we’d really worked together,” McBroom says. “We’d worked together throwing parties. But then, on Lessons in Chemistry, I think we both really saw how well we work together and each other’s work ethic and how talented each of us was in our own right. So, when that ended, we’re like, ‘Let’s combine forces again,’ and the natural thing for that was a cookbook.”
Culinary producer McBroom is the author and ghostwriter of cookbooks Divine Your Dinner, All About Cake, Momofuku Milk Bar and Milk Bar Life, and she’s imparted her food knowledge on shows such as Chef’s Table and in publications like Food & Wine. However, Party People: A Cookbook for Creative Celebrations (out Oct. 21 from Penguin Random House’s DK) is a much more personal endeavor. “‘Party People’ was the name of our group text thread with all of our friends,” says McBroom of the title. “So that was very natural.”
“The book was always going to be about bringing people together,” adds Larson. “It’s about hosting and making recipes that are just the beginning of starting connection with people.” The book also imparts tips, like advising against making something complex that leaves you stuck in the kitchen the whole time — “basically as staff at your own party, and we’ve both done that before,” Larson says. “And so, for us, it was like, ‘How do you support people?’ and say, ‘These are the recipes that are good for this type of party.’ So that’s how the book is organized.”
‘Party People’ by Brie Larson and Courtney McBroom releases Oct. 21.Credit: Courtesy DK of Penguin Random House
Party People features 100 creative recipes for communal food and drinks, along with the ladies’ personal anecdotes, photos, playlists and advice. In addition to ideas for condiments, libations, snacks and sweets, sections offer menus for gatherings grouped into small parties, fancy parties, tiny parties and theme parties. All of the recipes are derived from the women’s personal experiences — and some are rooted in family tradition.
“That was part of it from the beginning as well,” Larson explains. “There were things that are really comforting to both of us, and that’s part of what brings people together, I think, that sensory memory, or that coziness.” For her, the challenge was translating recipes from her mother and grandmother, whom she calls intuitive cooks. “They have made things that are very central to my childhood, but they don’t even really know how to articulate them.” One example is the book’s Twice-Baked Potatoes. “I’ve had [them] at every Thanksgiving and Christmas and I eat four of them every time,” says Larson, who had to figure out her own best practices, like why it’s important to scoop out the potatoes when warm instead of cool.
“Because of the starchiness,” McBroom interjects, in a very Lessons in Chemistry-like way. “If you do it [when they’re] hot, you don’t have to stir it as much, so you’re not creating as much gluey starch.”
“And there we have it, folks!” Larson says. “So, it was a way of preserving our history and our heritage.”
Other family recipes of Larson’s include her grandmother’s pomegranate jelly — “she used to give me 12 jars of it for Christmas every year, and I have a pomegranate tree at my house because I want to make my own jelly,” she notes. She also contributed a Cheesy Jenga Bread based on her great-grandmother’s recipe, and the peach chicken that was a staple in her house.
McBroom also found inspiration from her grandmother. “She gave me my first cookbook, The Care Bears’ Party Cookbook, which launched my journey,” she jokes. “A lot of my family recipes are Tex-Mex-inspired. But [my grandma’s] Texas chocolate sheet cake is probably one of the easiest recipes in the book, that she would make for every celebration. And then [I included] my dad’s jalapeño poppers that he does every year. He was an inspiration to me as well — always on the grill.”
Other recipes came from their parties or own personal specialties. “[There’s] a brand-new, never-before-seen Courtney McBroom special queso recipe,” says McBroom. Larson, who cooks every day, drew from her own signatures — like lemony miso butter beans and tomato tarts. “I’ve learned when it’s tomato season to always have some puff pastry and some tomatoes around,” Larson says. “Because — if your house is like mine — people just show up, and it’s the most magical thing in the world to be like, ‘Oh, here, I made tarts.’”
It was important to the women that nothing was overly complicated or too pricey. “We tried really hard [to make] all the recipes accessible,” McBroom says, recalling how this meant omitting the too-difficult Hostess-inspired snowball desserts intended for throwing in a food fight. She also replaced a prime rib recipe with a roast beef, when she learned most places in L.A. charged $300 for the former. She notes, “We want this book to be for everyone, and you shouldn’t have to break the bank to have a good time with your friends.”
As for where to shop in L.A., McBroom loves farmers markets for produce, McCall’s Meat & Fish Co. in Atwater Village for meat and Continental Gourmet Sausage Co. in Glendale for wieners. Larson encourages Angelenos to go to Japanese markets, K-town or Vallarta Supermarkets (“that one is from my childhood,” she says). As a bar snack lover who wants to emulate the olives served with drinks at fancy establishments, Larson looks to Trader Joe’s for crunchy mixes and flavored cashews to put out. “[I’ll] have them in my pantry, and if I know someone’s coming over, that’s what I’ll do,” she says.
Party People also includes recipes for drinks — many of which can be batched ahead of time, McBroom’s biggest tip. Libations range from Party People Punch to an impressive selection of alcohol-infused slushies, like the Hemingway Daiquiri Slush, responsible for brutal hangovers after their murder-mystery party. “It inspired the last chapter of the book, which is the after-party,” Larson says. “Because we realized that we were encouraging people to have all these fun, blow-your-brains out parties … [but] it’s very normal to feel down the next day.” The final chapter also includes their hangover remedy.
The best friends of nearly a decade finished the book incredibly quickly. “[It’s been] a year and a half of us all day, every day, working together … and I love Courtney more,” Larson says. “Reality is a serious thing that we’re living in, but [we’re] able to make jokes about it along the way. And it’s part of why working together has been so easy: Because we’re not afraid of having kind, compassionate confrontation and talking about our feelings and what scares us. But having humor in the mix allows it to diffuse.” (Case in point: their book’s introduction, which Larson calls a “highly intellectual thing … mixed with Garfield references.”) Larson adds, “So, I think that has allowed us to stay friends, and also be even closer than we were before.”
The true star of the book, their friendship, is as aspirational as the recipes — and they’d like Party People to bring others together. “I think there can be a lot of anxiety around social interaction, and hosting,” Larson says. “My hope would be that this book inspires [readers] to realize that what is gained from connecting with your community means so much more than any small fears you have of saying the wrong thing, or burning the dinner.”
“I hope that they take away a feeling of ease,” says McBroom, “of being like, ‘I can do this.’”
Next up, Larson — who just starred in the West End production of Elektra and made a guest appearance in Season 4 of FX culinary sensation The Bear — will join Lily Collins, Jack Quaid and Henry Golding in Amazon MGM film Close Personal Friends.
McBroom is the ghostwriter of HarperCollins’ Sept. 30 cookbook release, Idiot Sandwich, with a foreword by Gordon Ramsay. Since the pandemic, she’s also run a Ruined Table newsletter and dinner party project — which she notes has a similar message to Party People. “It’s like, ‘Hey, let’s get together.’ It doesn’t have to be perfect,” she says. “The Ruined Table is like the messy scene at the end of a party, that shows you had a good time.”
Together, the “party people” (@partypeople) are just getting started. Larson and McBroom will go on a “massive” book tour to celebrate their cookbook in various cities (including L.A., where they’ll make an appearance on Oct. 23 at the Grove), and they’re planning a second book with the recipes they couldn’t get into this one.
“We would love to keep Party People really going hard,” McBroom says. “Ideally, we’re just throwing parties forever and ever.”
“This is sort of like Party 101,” Larson adds, “and then we have a lot more ideas. So we’re just trying to get the good word out that parties are back!”
