Mill's Dinner with Friends series headed Upstate this fall for a cozy gathering at the Catskills home of cookbook author and recipe developer Alexis deBoschnek. Just after the first frost hit her farm, Alexis and Mill co-hosted a dinner to celebrate the changing of the seasons, with a menu drawn from her land and a kitchen where nothing goes to waste.

At Mill, our mission is simple: keep food out of landfills and put it back to good use. For Alexis deBoschnek, author of To the Last Bite and Nights and Weekends, that way of thinking is how she cooks. Alexis grew up in the Western Catskills and now lives and works on her family's farm there, where she and her husband raise pastured poultry. She is also one of our most enthusiastic Mill owners.

Hosting a Dinner with Friends at her home was a natural fit: an evening to welcome friends, mark the turn of the season, and put as much of the farm on the table as possible.

Starting on the Patio

The evening began outdoors, with guests gathering on the patio for cocktail hour to take in the foliage and the waning gardens. A grazing board spread with cheese, charcuterie, vegetables, dips, and crackers kept everyone happily snacking, and drinks were poured from Scribe Winery, Ghia, and San Pellegrino.

"This just might be one of the most gorgeous falls on record, and this dinner perfectly straddles the changing of the season," Alexis says.

From the Farm

The menu was shaped by what the farm could provide. "My cooking always leans seasonal, and this time of year especially feels like you're required to lean into the bounty that the Catskills offer us," Alexis says. "I wanted to use as much as we could from the farm to put this meal together."

Dinner was served family style, with whole roast chickens from Alexis's farm at the center of the table. Alexis and her husband sell their pastured poultry online and at a local farmers market, and she says everyone who tries it calls it the best chicken they've ever had. Around it came a spread of autumnal sides: a smashed potato salad, broccolini over romesco, and a chicory salad with delicata squash, ricotta salata, and pepitas, alongside a bright chimichurri from the garden. The table was adorned with produce from the garden and farm –  apples, pears, grapes and squash  – next to beeswax candle tapers and etched glassware for a warm, inviting appeal. 

Ending by the Fire

After dinner, the party moved to the living room and gathered around the fireplace for dessert: a giant pavlova with lemon curd, figs, and concord grapes from Alexis's own vines. 

"Starting the night outside where we can admire the foliage and ending the night inside by our fireplace feels like the perfect way to take my friends on a journey that honors this time of year in my favorite place," she says.

Guests left with gift bags holding goodies from Greentree Home Candle, Not Cold Picnic, and beeswax wraps from Mill.

Plate to Garden and Back Again

The dinner also showed how Mill fits into Alexis's kitchen. Her garden produces much of what her household eats from April to October, and the food scraps from those meals go into her Mill. She works the resulting grounds back into the soil of her vegetable garden.

Want to host like this? Learn more about Mill here and pick up Alexis's cookbooks here.

Photography by Georgia Hilmer.