Brie Larson & Courtney McBroom | Party People | Talks at Google

Hi, everyone. Thanks for joining us. Hi.

Oh, thank you guys for being here.

This is gonna be worse.

Okay, so first of all, we're here to talk about your amazing new book, Party People. You guys are party people. It's how you describe yourselves. How did you meet? I know there was some queso dip involved in the story. What's real.

Of course. That's how all good origin stories begin. Yeah. We met about 10 years ago at the most fun party you could ever attend, which is a presidential debate party. And how it went was Courtney was there, we had mutual friends, and she was making her world famous queso. As you do when you are a Texan through and through. And I am a huge lover of melted cheese. But I didn't realize that there's like certain degrees to when a queso is done, and in this case, it's having lots of mix ins in it. So she was at the stove. I came over and was like, what's that? And like put a chip in it before it was finished. And Courtney was like, damn, this girl is cool.

The way that she just burst here. I knew immediately we would be best friends. Obviously, that much was clear.

That's where it all began.

Okay. And then at some point, you guys, like, this relationship turned, friendship turned into a co venture on a book that you wanted to write together.

Well, yeah, the queso de cooking pipeline is very real.

Yeah. That also came out of just like our life of Courtney can speak to when that turn happened, where we started actually working together. But up until that point, we had had probably a solid like eight years of just throwing parties. Like, I come from a long line. My mom's an event planner. It's like in my blood to throw really outrageous parties. Courtney has a similar mind to me and is also just like always down for a good time. And so the two of us together made our friend group just sort of explode with great parties. And then I guess you can say when it kind of the switch.

The switch to turning the parties into work happened.

Yeah, I guess there's two points in my mind when that happened.

Well, I think the first time we worked together was on lessons in chemistry. I was the food. I was the culinary producer and did all the food styling and was the hand double for it and risking her.

Fingers in life to chop onions so that I could go to bed.

But it was the first time we had actually worked, worked together. Like, she saw me in my element, I saw her in her element, and it was really cool because how often do you really. Well, I Guess you all work together, but how often do you go to work, how often do you go to work with like your best friend and see how truly badass they are? And it became clear how our each of our talents worked so well together. And we knew with the success of Lessons in Chemistry that we obviously wanted to keep it, keep it going. What else can we do? And so we did that.

And so we turned to the most successful venture we had other than Lessons in Chemistry, which was our annual hot dog festival, which is in my parents backyard. And it, it is something. This upcoming year will be our fifth year. And we've definitely outgrown my parents backyard at this point. But we started talking a lot about, you all know, you work here, there's a lot of content in the world, there's a lot of people making things, and everybody's got a hot take or a cold take or a mid take or whatever. They got takes. And for us, we were like, we don't need to just add to the noise of all of this. What is it that matters to us? And so we started talking about how important throwing parties were to us. And it's not just about letting loose and maybe getting hungover, even though that is part of it. The other part is that these are the ways that we celebrate our accomplishments. It's how we let off steam and complain to our friends about the things that are hard. And it's our way of acknowledging our accomplishments and the passing of time. And so we're pro acknowledging our birthday. We are pro acknowledging that you should definitely have a party if you broke up with somebody who's an idiot and you should have broken up with them a long time ago. I've never done that. That. And so with that, we were like, can we take this sort of like soapbox philosophy and put it into something that's really fun and free you a little bit of the need to feel perfect? Because the books that we love that were about parties and hosting are so aspirational, but they're not necessarily the most inviting because you feel like you have to be a little bit more buttoned up than we know how to be.

We do not know how to be buttoned up.

We're working on it, but we're not there yet. And so we wanted to kind of take all of that and be like, okay, we are Martha Stewart's neurodivergent stepchildren. And like, how do we take that? Like the part of us that wants to be Martha and the part of us that's actually Just Garfield and put it into a book that can maybe help you. Whether you have thrown a bunch of parties before or you are new to throwing parties, and you're like, maybe I want to acknowledge my birthday this year. Like, this is what the book is for.

How did you figure out what your roles were going to be in this process of. Because, you know, there's a lot in there. There's photography, there's the recipes. There's lots of fun sort of anecdotes in there. As the two of you were kind of working together to create this one product together, how did you kind of figure out?

Well, I think it was pretty clear from the start. And, like, again, because we had been throwing parties already so many times, and, like, I am a professionally trained chef and have worked in many kitchens. And so I also.

I'm not an idiot. I'm not gonna be like, let me show you how to do it.

Clearly, I, like, took the lead on a lot of the food stuff. Whereas Bree grew up in a household, her mom was an event she watched. Like, her mother, like, showed her the way, the truth and the life of all the ways to do that. She is also, like, a director. So, like, who else to be would be better to, like, direct a party and, like, do all of, like, the decorations and the invites? And so it was just so clear and natural, and we didn't even really ever have a conversation about it. We were just like, get in your.

Lane and let's go. Yeah, exactly. And now it's like, I think the reality is that because we had actually thrown so many parties, and guess what? There's a lot of logistics in that when you're trying to throw, like, a murder mystery party for 75 people that we had been through this, a bunch of like, we know what our process is, which is like, we meet up, we go, oh, I got this great idea. Let's meet up. Let's talk about it. We come up with our menu. We come up with, like, oh, what if we did this? What if we did that? And then we have our shared notes. Because I have a hard time with anything other than a shared note.

Don't tell them about Google Drive, how you deal with Google Drive.

Can someone in here show me how to use the Google Drive I would really love.

Yeah, I've told you.

This is actually the perfect audience for me to say, can someone please help me? Because she sends it to me in a text, I click on it, I look at it, and then it goes away forever. And I don't Know where it is.

I love it so much. I love preaching the gospel.

So once this book is out, that's the next thing is we're literally taking out our laptops and she's gonna give me the step by step because I can't. I can do a lot of things and I can't do that. So anyway, we have a shared note. I'm sorry, Google, but I'm getting there. And we have our checklist and we divvy up the responsibilities along with grocery lists, all of that. We figure budget, all of that. And so, you know, to lead that into a tip that you can take from our life. Don't be afraid to have a co host and don't be afraid to ask for help. That's like one of the biggest things. And if there's a part of you that's like, oh, I don't want to, I would just say, why? Is it something that your mom taught you or your grandma taught you, your grandpa taught you, your dad taught you that you're not supposed to ask for help? Let's undo that. Because people are actually very willing to help. And it's a. And it will make you enjoy your party so much more. If it feels like a shared experience.

Let's talk about parties. That is one of your areas of expertise. Describe objectively the best party you have.

Ever been to that we've thrown or that somebody threw us.

You can answer however you like, but.

Oh, there's no rules, huh? The best party we've thrown was the murder mystery party. In my opinion, the best party I've attended was. I don't remember what year, but it was. I was in Dallas for the super bowl and Patron threw a carnival party. And I remember, like, half of it. And. But I do remember there was like a ring toss on Patron bottles and there was like, bumper cars and like, it was a full carnival. I've never seen anything like that. That was like a time, you know, when we did, like, massive, like, activations.

Oh, yeah. You know, mine, obviously, murder mystery goes down in history as the best mystery party. I like to rhyme. But as far as attending, I somehow I still don't know how I ended up at this party, but it was like, I live in la, as does Brie, and it was the Oscars, and I somehow ended up in, like, the coolest party. There's this one party every year after party for the Oscars, and I was just like, wow, I can't believe I'm here. Look at all these famous people everywhere. And then I was like, whoa, look at that guy over there in the cape with the cane. He really looks like Prince. And then I was like, oh, my God, that is Prince. I was in the same room with Prince.

Yeah, that's hard to find.

I feel like that's huge. That's by far the coolest party. I was within 50ft of Prince.

A party cred. What is the most avoidable party foul that most hosts make?

I'll take this one.

Yeah.

Just being too nervous and high strung. Like, if you're gonna throw a party, trust me, we get it. It can be very nerve wracking. But try to find like a peaceful place within yourself because your attitude is going to be contagious. So if you're stressed out, when your guests arrive, they're going to be stressed out. So whatever you have to do to make yourself less stressed, whether that's ordering a pizza, I feel like I'm getting a weird feedback. Oh, thank you. Yes. Anyway, whether it's ordering pizza or having your friends bring something or being like, hey, you, you're going to help me clean up later. Whatever you have to do to make yourself feel better and enjoy the party, do that and be okay with it because that's going to make the party the best party.

Yeah, yeah. Lighten up. Basically.

Yeah.

How do you. How did that work? A murder mystery party? Seems like it's like you're.

We didn't lighten up. Layering that. Yeah, no, that one actually broke us so badly that the final chapter in this is called After Party People, which is like aftercare, because we were. So I said to Courtney, we were laying in my backyard the morning after that party and I was like, I feel like I drank a bottle of whiskey and rode every single roller coaster like 15 times. And all we did was host a party for five hours. It was a lot. And it made me think about these larger gatherings that we're all used to throwing, say, Thanksgiving. And I was like, I could do a whole TED Talk on why Thanksgiving is only once a year. And it's for exactly how I feel right now, which is like, we don't need to. And this book is part of why we're talking about this is it's like not every party has to be the biggest party in the world. Like a party. We have a whole chapter for a party of two or a party of one, which is arguably the most important party you can throw. And if we think about it that way, it makes sense that of course, a 75 person costume party that you're completely in character. And we also decided that what would be a great idea, let's recipe test, like, six recipes from the book at the same time. So stupid. Don't do that. And so when you think about it that way, you're like, oh, this makes sense. Like, there can be the party that is, like, such a big push that there's this. Like, there's the other side of the coin. And that's okay. That's why we have a smoothie recipe for you. And it still is my favorite party. It's our favorite party we've ever thrown, but it also was. It's exhausting.

We won't do it like that again next time.

No, that's exactly right.

There's something in the introduction, and I'm jumping around a little bit here, but I think it's relevant to what you were just talking about and the idea of the. The spirit of the book, which is you wrote. Our goal is to help you get so deep in the moment that you forget to post about it on social media. The things on our phones don't matter, but the people in front of us do. Can you talk a little bit about why you wanted to include that in there and sort of how you navigate that for yourselves?

Well, I think we've kind of gotten in this place where we've forgotten how to be together in real life. And it's really as great as our phones are, as great as technology is, don't come for us, but we. It's important to set your phones down and be in the moment and not be like, okay, I'm in the moment, but I want to make sure it looks good so I can take a photo and post it on Instagram. Like, we. We often ask. Ask our guests to check their phones at the door so that you can be more present. And I think, like, that's something that we've kind of gotten away from and are losing as a society in the world. And I think it's important for us to, like, bring a little bit of that back.

You know, I think people feel safer when they don't feel like there's the risk of phones being out. I think people can be depending on the type of party. Like, one party, that's one of my favorites, and it's one of the simpler parties you can do is called brag and complain. And it really is just that. It's like you can just do snacks. You could order a pizza or like, how we used to do it is you go to a steakhouse and you get a steak and a dirty martini, and the only thing that you and your friends and or family, if you want to include them in it, is the only thing you're doing is bragging or complaining. And everybody kind of just like, as it comes to them, like, oh, I got a complaint, and, oh, I got a brag. And it kind of will start off a little awkward. People will be like, are we actually allowed to do this? Because, like, society says we're not supposed to. But as time goes, people. And maybe the martini helps, it starts to open up. And, like, everybody starts to say things. And I think people are gonna be more likely to open up if they don't feel like a phone's coming out or, like, a video. Someone's gonna tape them or take a photo of them or brag about the brag and complaint. They. It's okay to, like, be present in the moment a bit more and not make everything through the lens of, how am I gonna take a picture of this? And the best case study, again, I'm sorry to bring up Murder Mystery Party, but you'll hear me talk about this for the end of time, because I'm proud of it. We had a whole thing. Like, our. One of our best friends, he's got, like, one of these laser cutter things. He's really smart. I don't know how he does that. I can't use a Google Drive. And he can work a laser cutter as, like, a side project. But he made us this thing that kind of looked like a little locker, and it had these slots that you could put phones in. And we just asked people, if you're comfortable, will you please check your phone at the door? Obviously, it's not locked behind a freaking padlock. Our friends that had small children were like, obviously, keep your phone in your pocket. It's not a big deal. But we found that the party was exponentially better because people, that little bit of you, that's like, I'm showing up to this party in a costume, playing a character. Like, I'm playing Margarita rocks, a cocktail waitress on a cruise ship. Like, kind of embarrassing. I heard Kyle laugh. And the part of you that is like, oh, no, that's scary. Kind of goes away when you realize that, like, it's all going to die within the realm of the party and all you're going to remember is the general vibe of what was there.

Yeah. Sort of switching gears a little bit, but also talking about technology, you launched your YouTube channel back in 2020, and as a part of the promotion of the book. You seem to be having a lot of fun creating long form videos together. Can you talk a little bit about how you approach YouTube differently from the other types of entertainment that you've built a career around and just what that experience has been like?

Yeah, involved in the. For sure. I mean, I started the YouTube channel because I realized that I was afraid of being myself publicly. And that is probably part of this whole like, please don't take pictures of me at my party because I'm embarrassed thing. And so I, for the longest time had this belief that no one would believe me playing any of these characters. If you knew too much about me, if you knew too much about me, then you'll know what's me, what's not me, whatever. And with more time, I've realized that that's silly. I'm changing and growing so fast that character to character, I'm a completely different person. So you can't keep up because I can't keep up. And the other part is, of course, every character is me. And it's just different levels of me that are going up and down. And so if you dislike a character I play, that hurts a lot less than you just disliking me, obviously. And so I realized I was hiding behind that and I was getting kind of exhausted by it. And so during the pandemic, I was like, well, what if I pressed on this a little bit more? And I committed to posting a YouTube video every week of me just being myself, like, however that is, and see what happened. And the biggest thing that happened was that really nothing happened. Like, there was like one video that like kind of had a moment where people like that. It kind of like spun in a direction that I was like, ooh, I didn't expect that video to go that way. But for the most part, after posting a video every day for a year, like, it really wasn't that eventful, except people got to know me a little bit better.

They seem to love it also.

Oh, thanks. Yeah, I don't feel like that's my job to say yes, people love my channel. But I mean, it wasn't. It wasn't this crazy thing that I thought it was going to be. And so that has definitely been part of the Runway. It was also where I got to show the things that I like outside of acting and outside of character work, which is cooking was like a huge part of that. And so I felt like all of that allowed this Runway, which has now led to this book and led to now making videos with Courtney that Showcase us cooking, but also us traveling, because we're really interested in celebrations and cultures all over the world and how other people are gathering outside of California. Yeah. Yeah. So it's been wonderful, really. And I think it's such a wonderful thing in a world where, like, so much of my life has always been about other people hiring me. Ultimately, somebody, even at the level I'm at, it requires somebody up above me saying, bree's allowed to do that. And I really crave. And it's very necessary for me in order to do that, to feel like I have something that's my own, that I'm the captain of, and that it's up to me, and I'm the boss of that.

What is it like making YouTube videos with someone who's also a director? Film director.

Wonderful.

Okay, good.

It's great. I don't have to. No, it's like. And she has such a great eye. And, like, again, our aesthetic is very similar. Like, we didn't argue about anything as far as, like, what the book was gonna look like. The photos. Like, we were. We were on point with each other the whole time, and.

Yeah.

And clearly, she's a better speaker than me.

But tired.

We're so tired. But it was great because she told me what to do in the same way that, like, with. I, like, took the lead with cooking with the YouTube videos. I didn't have to worry about anything. She had it. She was like, what are we wearing? You're gonna do this. And you're over here. And I'm like, yes. It's been wonderful.

That's awesome. There's something controversial that you guys get into in the book, and I think it's a debate that exists in our culture, and that is about whether a hot dog is a sandwich. You guys are very passionate about this, from what I've gathered from the book. So I'd like you to each to state your arguments.

Wait.

Wait for the room here. Yeah.

Before we do, can we just. By show of hands, I'm curious the audience. Raise your hand if you think a hot dog is a sandwich. Don't do anything.

Okay. I'm not making.

Raise your hand if you don't think a hot dog is a sandwich.

One of you is gonna have a tough job here.

Okay. Thank you.

We're gonna see who we're gonna see. This is your chance to convert or solidify your position.

I firmly believe that a hot dog is a sandwich. By definition, a hot dog is a sandwich.

Thank you.

Thanks to two people in the crowd.

And I think just because it's the definition doesn't mean it's true. I think a hot dog is and should be allowed to be its own thing, folks. And if we start letting hot dog. Thank you. If we start letting hot dogs be sandwiches, what's next? The hamburger? It's gonna get out of control. It's too much. And I think we need to let things be as they are.

Just because a hot dog is a sandwich does not mean it's also its own thing. Much like all squares are rectangles and not all rectangles are squares.

See, I'm not a mathematician. Thank you, all three of you. But this has been a topic of debate and it's tough arguing with her. And all of you are gonna feel really stupid in a second because she's actually the president of the Hot Dog Appreciation Club. Granted, she invented it, but she's still the president and CEO and found. Yeah. Co founder. Founder. Co founder and found and secretary.

And basically. And boss and vice president, of course.

So with that, it's a little confusing to argue with the president of hot dogs about what they are, but I feel pretty good about it. I think I'm allowed to have a voice in America. So that's where we're at. Thank you. And so because of this debate, we do have a recipe in this book. Because if you're looking at the person next to you who said the opposite of what you did, and you're like, what kind of world am I living in? I feel really uncomfortable. Don't worry. We have a recipe for you. It is called the hot dog sandwich. A Bridge to a Better Tomorrow. And this is the rest. This is the version of a hot dog is a sandwich that we can agree on. And it's delicious and it's uniting the country.

It's a Reuben, but with hot dogs. And it's delicious.

All right, we're going to end on a rapid fire list of party related questions and then we're going to do. We're going to cook. Okay.

Okay.

Ready?

Yes.

All right.

Best dip.

Queso.

French onion.

What did you say?

French onion.

French onion. Okay. Best cocktail?

Mai tai.

I'd like Manhattan's best dessert.

My grandma's pistachio thing. That's like not even real food. It's like pistachio jello and. And co whip. I'm getting a name for you. I gotta figure it out. I don't know what the name is. It's just Grandma's Pistachio dessert.

Pistachio delight.

Let's call it that no one will know what that means. What's your favorite dessert?

I think the Ritz cake in our book. It is real good.

What is the strangest thing that you brought to a party?

A bad attitude.

The strangest thing I will say. And it actually became a huge part of why I like to tell people that costume parties are actually the easier party to throw than a non costume party is. I was once invited to a costume party and I was the only person that showed up in a costume. Which sounds horrifying and at first I thought it was. But then I realized as somebody that can get a little nervous, it was not a group of friends that I was very close with. It was amazing because I had an instant conversation starter the entire night. And I also looked like the really brave, cool, weird one at the party.

What was the costume?

I was dressed as Daisy. It's a kind of obscure Nintendo character.

Okay. That's also a conversation, I suppose. What is the strangest thing someone else has brought to your party?

A bad attitude.

No bad attitudes at your party.

I actually don't know. We've had some interesting booze brought to our party.

Lots of interesting boos, I'm sure.

We have had some strange things brought to our party.

Oh, I know what the hot dog martini.

Oh, that's true.

Our friend Josh brought to our last hot dog festival a hot dog wash to martini. A dirty hot dog water martini is what he called it. But it was delicious.

Actually. It was good.

It was really good.

Served it up. He was really nervous about it and so we talked about it recently because I was like, that is one of the coolest things you can do when you're going to a party. Much like I was saying about wearing the costume as he showed up to a party. That's large. He doesn't know anybody. And he came in with the weird booze that was like, oh, taste this. And he was so scared about it. He also brought he knew my favorite cocktail and he brought that batched as well in case that went sideways.

Nice.

But it didn't.

What is the weirdest party game that you've ever played? And please remember that this is being live streamed and my mom might see it.

The weirdest. Oh gosh. Well, my family does a lot of odd things. Our Easter now has turned into Deal or no Deal. So basically there's like a really intense Easter egg hunt. But the hunt is not for eggs. It's for the cases that have. My mom is. I come from my mom. Okay. And then we play Deal or no deal. So that's pretty odd. And I'd say maybe second to that. And Courtney knows because she was inaugurated this last year. My family also does, like, a multi day fourth of July. Like, it's like, four days of, like, insanity. And the first night is Glow games. And it starts with, like, massive extra large size of battleship. But the parts in the battleship are shot glasses. And so if the person gets your spot on the battleship, someone on the team has to do a shot that is incredibly elaborate.

I thought you were gonna say, like, limbo or something.

We got hammered.

Yeah.

Yeah.

You have to. There's no way.

And then we had to play glowing badminton afterwards.

You have to.

And I was so bad at it because I was so drawn in the dark.

Yeah.

All right, last one. What is your go to karaoke song?

Mother by Danzig, Burn by Usher.

Those could not be more different. All right, let's go and let's cook some food over here.

Sure.

Yeah.

Okay, great.

So what recipe are we doing right now?

Thank you. All right, we're doing two very simple recipes from the book. We won't be here long, don't worry. We're doing the tonato and the miso.

Deviled eggs with tonado on them.

Yeah.

So we're just gonna kind of talk you through it because it's a very simple recipe. The tonado is basically like a tuna puree. Do you guys raise your hand if you know what tonato is? It's like an Italian dip. It can be used as a dip. It can be used on top of things. We like to put it on top of deviled eggs. There's another recipe in the book where it's on top of sliced tomatoes with fried capers. It's quite delicious. This is the finished product. Is there a camera so you can see or no?

I love that you think there's a camera above us.

Yeah.

Here, I'll just show you. This is the finished product. It's a strange gray color, and that's how it's supposed to be. It's tuna. All you do is add tuna, capers, garlic.

Pour it in.

Yeah, yeah.

I feel like we're doing it.

Yeah. Pretend like. But pretend like this is a blender because you're really gonna blend it together. So you add some tuna to the blender, some capers to the blender. Are you doing the air quotes?

This is a blender.

Yeah.

Garlic, lots of garlic. A little bit of chopped anchovies, except you don't really have to chop them.

Because they're going in the blender.

They're going in the blender. Some olive oil. And I will say, like, the tuna that you use, make sure you use tuna packed in olive oil. And. Yeah, use a good quality tuna.

Like, there's basically the entire recipe.

Exactly. And then tons of lemon juice. And it will need some salt, but not a ton of salt because the anchovies are so salty. And the capers. And then I'm gonna put. And then I'm gonna blend this up.

And tell them how long this will keep for in their fridge.

I'm so glad you asked. Yeah, it will keep for approximately two weeks.

Wow, that's incredible.

That is longer than you would expect.

It's exactly right. Yeah. And that's part of why. So a lot of these recipes, all the recipes in the book, we have things, little boxes at the bottom which tell you what you can prep ahead. What's freezable? Because going back to looping back to the beginning of all this, like, why did we make this book? So that you can actually enjoy a party you throw. And one of those things is being able to prep your food properly so that by the time your guests show up, you're not scrambling. I mean, let's be real. You'll probably still be scrambling a little bit. A little bit. But, like, in a fun way. Like, you're like, oh, my God.

Hi.

Everybody's here. I'm so busy. But, like, not like a. I don't know. I don't know what to do. I couldn't act out.

No, you're great. That was perfect. You should get another award for that.

Thank you.

But I actually, actually have an addendum because I just checked the recipe, and it's not two weeks, it's three days.

That is a pretty good.

I always say you should check the.

Book for the actual facts on this.

This is the last day of our press tour, and our brains are literally deviled eggs right now.

Yeah. Okay, so then for the deviled eggs. Yeah. Imagine you blended that up. Then for the. I did.

It's right.

It's right here. Perfect. Then for the deviled eggs, we have, you know, you're gonna boil your eggs. Let's start there. You're gonna slice your eggs. You're gonna scoop out the yolk of said eggs. You're gonna mix them in a bowl with some mayo, some. Do you wanna say how much it is? Does it matter?

Yeah, yeah, I'll read. Yeah, it's in the book. But I'll just tell you. For 12 eggs, it's a quarter cup plus 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise, 3 teaspoons of white miso paste, 3 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar, 2 teaspoons of spicy dijon mustard, which. That's a lot of mustard. A half a teaspoon of soy sauce.

Yep.

Kosher salt, and. And then we're gonna mix that all together in a blender or food processor until it's like this. And then you're gonna want to chill it for a second because it'll be. It'll be kind of, like, loose. So you want to put it in the fridge and chill it for a little bit so it firms back up. And then pipe it into the eggs. And what you can do again. Speaking of prepping ahead of time, you can get the eggs ready to go halved, you can make the filling and have it in the bag ready to go. And then just before your guests come, pipe it into the eggs.

And for this bag just to go again, back to basics. If you're, like, a cool, like, baking girly, like, you probably have one of these, but if you're not, you just put it in a Ziploc bag and cut the tip of it.

Yeah.

That's like, I don't know. Maybe I unlocked a memory for you. It's like, it was a memory for me. I was like, oh, my mom used to do that when I was a kid.

It's so good. It's so smart. So then just pipe it in. And then the great. The wonderful thing about these eggs, why they're so delicious, besides the miso, is you just put a little bit of the tonado on top. It sounds kind of like a weird combo, but I promise it's real good. Our friend Mo tasted these when we were recipe testing them, and she considers herself a. An egg connoisseur. And she was like, these are the best deviled eggs I've ever had.

Oh, I know. That's the tonado. And then we're gonna put.

Yeah. The frizzled shallots on top.

And I'm afraid to ask you how long these keep for.

Two weeks. No, these are so these don't leave them out for that long. I would say leave them out. I mean, we've all had doubled eggs before. Yeah. And then in the fridge, they'll last. I'm gonna go with three days.

Yep. Great.

You'll know if they've gone bad.

That's actually true. You will know. Here's them. I'm so sad that we don't have that overhead camera that Courtney was seeking.

They're so tasty. We hope you.

They look great.

You're about to try them.

All right.

We have some out there for you.

Exactly.

Okay, we've got a question already on this. The screen right here.

All right.

Oh, cool.

Wow.

We're reading Google. You guys really know how to do it.

It's true. Okay. My initial excitement for hosting can morph into menu anxiety when trying to cater to all my favorite people's different needs. Gluten free, vegetarian, I hate cilantro and so on.

Yeah.

What is your core philosophy for building a party menu? Delicious for everyone, but also doesn't overwhelm the host and lead to a ton of waste. Are there any hero recipes you consider your secret weapon?

This is a great question.

A very good question. I'll take this one.

Go for it.

I think, you know, obviously if someone has an allergy, that's something to take very seriously. If, like, someone's going to die if they eat a sesame seed. Don't have sesame seeds on the menu. So I think usually what I do, what Bree does is if we're having a party, we have our guest list and it's like, okay, does anyone have any really bad allergies? Let us know what it is. I don't think if it's like something that they'll literally die, then if they eat it, then it's like, okay, we're not having any of those. But if someone's just like a vegetarian, I think it's fine to have. You can still serve meat but have like a couple good vegetarian options. If someone's just like, I don't like onions, I'm just gonna be like, pick the onions out. I'm not gonna, like, not put onions. The cilantro with soap tasting like soap. Thing is, I'm kind of on the. I'll put cilantro on the side. I love cilantro. I don't think people should be not given cilantro just because one person who's coming to the party thinks it tastes like soap. But I also know how bad that must taste. So I don't like, cover everything in cilantro. I'll just put it on the side and people can add their own cilantro.

The other really simple thing to do is you make your little menu cards like go back old school Martha Stewart style and like, label what everything is and you can put on there gluten free vegetarian cilantro haters free or whatever, and then you've kind of got it figured out. But you can't make everybody happy. And so it's like you just gonna have to do the best that you can. And know that we talk about it in the book too, where it's like, if you're gonna have this big barbecue, slow roast pork rib blowout, maybe don't invite your vegetarian friend or tell them to bring something because this is clear what this event is. But if it's something that's like this broad scope thing and you're making a bunch of dishes, it's easy to kind of at least plan some things out or have some snacks available so that everybody's happy.

Yeah, it's actually, I think a lot easier than most people think. There's almost always at least a lot of vegetarian stuff. A lot of our recipes are accidentally vegan too. So once you start planning the menu, you're like, oh, this isn't as big of a deal as I thought. Especially when you're like, friend who hates onions. Sorry, you're on your own. Yeah, yeah. And as far as what was. Oh, any hero recipes a secret weapon. Honestly, these deviled eggs, people freaking love them. And the Ritz cake, but that's more of a dessert. I always like to have a really simple salad available for those in like bread and butter.

Crudite, bread and butter. I'm also a huge fan of bar snacks, which is not something that you have to make, but it's something I always keep on hand. It's just like the simplest thing in a pinch. Just have some potato chips, some nuts, assuming nobody has a serious nut allergy. And some olives. And just having those out too can really make people happy.

Yeah. And our ranch dip, we have a ranch dip in there. It's so good.

We're going to go live. Question on this side first.

Hi. Hello.

Hi. First, want to say thank you all for coming today. I came here expecting some cooking recipes and got some terrific party planning advice. So thank you.

Thanks for having us.

I want to ask if you could comment a bit on party fouls. Maybe thinking about, like you said a lot of do's, but what about like.

The do nots for a host or for guest?

Either.

Are you worried that you did something wrong?

He's just.

Yeah. Okay. Party fouls are an interesting one because ultimately part of our belief is that the party can actually be the sacred space where you're allowed to make a mistake within reason. Like somebody might spill something, somebody might get a little too drunk, like, and it's okay to allow us the opportunity to learn from our mistakes. Within a party setting because where else are we going to learn them? But of course, there are always times when you're throwing a party where maybe there's an argument that happens. I have been the person that has had a bit too much to drink before and I've slammed my hands on the table because I'm trying to make a point. Yeah, we both have done things like that. And so those types of things are like de escalate, separate. And maybe the party's over or maybe not. Or maybe someone just needs to get an Uber and go home. Those types of things. And then the other party fouls is also like some of them are accidental and that's on the host to figure out. So if you're a no shoes house, that's totally fine. But make that clear when people enter. So you don't have the thing when people are like, oh my God, I'm so embarrassed. I have my shoes on. I didn't know. Maybe have a basket with socks or like steal slippers from a hotel and like have those available for people. And we like to just make it really clear for people when they're entering the house. So it's like this is where your shoes go. These are the slippers. Can I get you a drink? I like to tell people where the cups are, where the water is, where the ice is, and it's like so forever. Never ask me again. You are free to do that and just set it up so that people actually feel like they know what the rules are, where the bathroom is. That's part of why parties that have a theme tend to be really helpful. Even though you'd think that's the hardest thing to do if you're first starting out throwing parties. It's actually great because it gives people really clear parameters. Like we are here to play this one board game, the End, you know.

And I also think really the only. For me, unforgivable party foul is just someone who's mean for no reason. Like, get your. Don't be mean. We have enough meanness in the world. Just be nice.

What about just like really sarcastic Sarcasm is great.

I love sarcasm.

I don't know about it.

Thank you.

We're gonna go. We're gonna go over to this side.

Hi. Also, thank you for coming on the end of your tour. This is very well timed. I'm newer to the LA area, I love hosting, but I'm having trouble getting past the initial. Who do I invite to this first gathering? So tips you have for getting maybe disparate groups Together and then once I eventually have my friends bringing in a new person or new people to those communities. Love this.

Very good. I think first of all, don't feel like you have to have like a big huge party all at once. It can be a small party, it can just be one or two people and you're having them over to like watch, watch a movie. Like I think start small, don't again, don't feel like you need to have like 20 people at your house all at once and then slowly build from there or have one or two people come over and tell them each to bring a friend. And we found again like having a small little theme will unite people so quickly. It'll give some everyone something to talk about, something to bond over. And that really is a great icebreaker.

And I think if you think about what is your bandwidth. So if you're the type of person that's like, I want to have a dinner party. My goal is to do one every month. Set the parameters of like, okay, these are how many seats I'm willing to fill at that table. And you can kind of pace it out, rotate it out. I have some friends who do these like trips where they don't tell anybody who's coming and you're just, all you do is say yes or no if you're going to come. And then you show up and you meet all these new people and it's really fun. And so that's really inspired me too where like, like you can make that the theme. You can be like, it's a mystery guest party, you know, you never know and it's like you curate it. And again, I find that the thing that people think to go to is a dinner party. But I actually think dinner parties are one of the harder things on a host if you're cooking the meal because it's hard to be in the kitchen preparing say a multi course meal and present at the table. That's hard. So even if it's a show that you guys all rally around or you can go, oh, every, you know, I did a bachelor or bachelorette viewing party that was super fun and it allowed for this like open container that fluctuated. Sometimes there was fewer people, sometimes more people. People could bring a friend. Actually one of my friends found love and is now married with two kids from that. Yeah. So parties are really powerful.

Yeah, they are.

They've got a good logistics question for you here. Any strategies for hosting a party as a single? I'm afraid something will burn in the kitchen while I take the time to answer the door.

Make a casserole. That's always our answer. Make a casserole. For things that are, like, dinner party related, we really say, like, do a roast. Like, a roast meat, roast beef. We have a roast beef recipe, roast chicken recipe, and. Or we have, like, a lot of casserole recipes. Those are fantastic, because that's one of those things that you can wait until all of your guests arrive to get started on it, and then you're not. And just set a timer on your phone. Not everybody has, like, sense for the kitchen, and so you just go, okay, Bri and Courtney said, It's 45 minutes. I'm gonna put it in and set a timer. Yeah.

Prep it all in advance. Throw it in the oven when the guests get there. Also, I was single for, like, seven years, and sometimes I burnt stuff when I went to answer the door, and we all survived. You know, it's okay if you burn something.

Truly.

Don't let that hold you back or find a friend to, like, go, like, come over a little bit early and be your official door answerer. You know what I mean? Definitely. It's a lot easier if you have, like, a friend or a lover helping you, but don't feel like you have to do it by yourself.

Another live one. Let's go over there.

Hello.

Hi.

So I have a couple cookbooks, one of which is by Joshua Wiseman. Shout out to a fellow YouTube creator. I know you guys have done a collab before.

Yep.

So excited to check out yours. Sorry, I'm very tall for this.

You really are. It's kind of a nice flex.

I've never had the opportunity to ask. I mean, you guys have to fill a whole book. But if you had to pick, like, one recipe that's, like, either your favorite or the one anyone should make in the book, which one would it be?

Oh, are you for you personally, are you, like, a sweets guy or a savory guy?

One of each. We'll go. One of each.

One of each.

Not a hot dog sandwich either.

The hot dog sandwich. One recipe. Well, I'm gonna say for the desserts, well, I've already shouted out the Ritz cake so many times, so I am gonna say the pop Tart peach pie is fantastic. And if peaches aren't in season, like, for now, you can also do it with, like, apples or any seasonal fruit. That's one of my favorite. I would say make that one for sure.

For the sweets, and I would say for the savory. It's tough to Say. But I think a good entry level is one of the casseroles. Maybe like King Ranch.

Yeah, King Ranch.

King Ranch Casserole is, like, really classic. It's really simple. Everybody's going to love it. And I love that you can freeze it ahead of time. All those types of things, like the recipes that I know if I'm having, like, a Sunday, I love a Sunday meal prep day. And I can prep everything and put it in the freezer so that by the time it's party time, dinner time, the next week or whatever, it's ready to go. That's, like, ideal for me because I'm one of those people that's, like, busy all the time, and then suddenly I have, like, a moment off. And so it's nice that I can kind of move things around and prep ahead of time. Time.

Awesome. Thank you.

Very timely question right here, given the time of year. It is, what is your favorite spooky food and drink at a Halloween party?

Oh, my God.

What costume would you be wearing while you enjoy it?

And it sounds like maybe spooky is my favorite.

Yeah. Courtney, you should take this. Yeah.

Well, so really, any drink can be spooky if you put a little dry ice in it. You just have to wait until it fully dissolves before you can drink it. But it's so fun. Or put like. Or what you can do is you can get, like, a cauldron, like a punch bowl. We can make the party people punch, for example, and put some ice or water in the bottom of a bowl, put dry ice on top and the cauldron on top of that. And it gets so spooky and smoky. It's the best. And then the other thing. So we have the queso in here. You could put queso in the cauldron and then the dry ice. But also, we do this thing called gadas, where you get the tortillas, the corn tortillas, and you punch holes in them so they look like a ghost, and then you fry them for the chips, for the queso. It's very nice.

And what will we be wearing? I guess just hopefully our Halloween costumes.

Yeah, but what I think they want. Are you ready to reveal that or is it.

Well, I'll tell you what. I have been for the past three years. I'm changing it this year. But remember the movie Splash with Daryl Hannah? So I would splash. I'd wear the I heart New York shirt that was, like, super long, and I'd get a really long blonde wig. It was great.

I haven't Figured it out yet? We've been on a press tour. Guys, I'm sorry, I need to look through my closet, but I'm leaning towards being the Nesquik bunny. I like that you heard it here first.

That is a good one.

Exclusive.

Exclusive.

I think we might have time for one more and so we'll go over here.

Oh, hello.

Hi.

I wish I was here from the beginning. I just saw the sign upstairs, so. Oh, no.

Well, it was great.

But it's very timely. Like the question asked before. I recently moved to Los Angeles and we decided to have a party because we, we're from the Midwest and we have lots of parties. Unfortunately, I looked at the EVI and there's 60 people that RSVP.

How many? Wait, did you invite 60 people or.

Did they all bring like families and kids and stuff? So 60 individuals will be coming to our house?

Maybe.

Oh, wow. Okay. And how are you feeling about that?

That's why I came down here.

Okay, good. I'm glad you. I'm glad you ran down here. We're here to help. Here to help. Talk to us. Okay, which part are you nervous about?

Just the planning and thinking about store bought versus homemade goods. And like, just how do I feed everyone? We specifically chose to do after lunch but before dinner time.

So it's like great.

Yeah, snacks. But like, how long would you prep for something like this? And like, how much stuff would you task yourself with creating versus like having just like lots of charcuterie?

Like, like, is there a theme for the party? Is it just like generic party? Is it like a Halloween party? Or is it just like a fall friends and family?

Fall friends and family.

Fall friends and family.

Love that. I love this idea of a fall friends and family. I think I take that, you know, it's not a friendsgiving, it's a fall friends and family.

Fall friends and family. I would, I think you should sit down and be like really honest with yourself and say, what do I have bandwidth for and do and what can I afford? Yeah, like, if you're like, I have bandwidth to make a salad and then just order pizza, then that's perfect. Like, don't feel like you need to do anything more than what you have bandwidth to do. Like if you end up just doing like a bunch of charcuterie boards. Perfect. You know, there's a few, like, not to like be talking about her book, but there's lots of entertaining books that like will give you batched out. Like we have batched out punch recipes that you can make ahead of Time. And then you just put it out on the table. It's super easy.

And the punch doesn't have to have alcohol in it. Yeah, you could have it non alcohol. This is like also a thing where it's kids and stuff too. You can just make it non alk and then just have the booze on the side and people can spike their own punch, for example.

Yeah.

Yeah. I think what Courtney's saying is right. I mean, we're big fans of saying, like, well, first of all, I'd say, do you want 60 people at your house? Because we need to have a separate conversation, which is about the art of saying no, which is very, I think, is a real thing. It's one of the biggest things we get asked all the time is like, what do I do if someone asks for a plus one? I'm like, you say, no. You say, I'm sorry, but I cannot spend $40 to meet your random friend that you met last week at a bar. Like, it's not. That's. I'm so excited that you're excited about them, but, like, that's a no for me. And that's. That is so okay. But if you're actually kind of like, okay, 60 people, so it's kind of cool. Okay. It looks like you're like, I'm up for this challenge. Yeah. Then I think you go, how can I be present for 60 people? And being present for 60 people might not mean you're in the kitchen the whole time. Sometimes I like a party where I'm in the kitchen a little bit because it gives me a little bit of a break from socializing. So you might want to have stuff like that where maybe it's like you have some pizzas that you're heating up, so it gives you something to go in and out of. But also you have things that are out there grazing so you don't feel like you're constantly needing to. And also, if you're doing this with anybody else that you're saying this is family or anybody that you feel close to, I would say if there's somebody that can help you, help you. That comes early and helps you set up. And then exit strategy is key. Who's helping you clean up?

Yeah, big time.

I would say compostable cups are gonna be your friend, my friend. Compostable plates are gonna be your best friend. And also they even have these trash cans that are just like pop up ones that you can just put outside or around so that everything is trashed really easily for you. Cause because it's all fun and games until everyone leaves and you're dealing with cleaning up dishes for 60 people. Yeah.

I love this party therapy. We're at time. Let's thank Bri and Courtney for being here.

Thank you for coming.

Thanks for coming.

Thank you.