Book born from family's traumatic chapter celebrates Northumbrian food and countryside
A hospital diary, rural imagination and family drawings form the foundations of an inventive new food-and-fable collection
A traumatic family emergency has inspired Northumberland caterer Clara Nicholl to publish a book that blends storytelling, local wildlife and comforting recipes into what she describes as a celebration of resilience and rural life.
The Great Wildlife Cook-Off: Food & Fables from Honeycrook Farm grew out of the aftermath of a devastating quad bike accident in 2022, which left Clara’s young daughter Elsie with life-threatening injuries.
Following the accident, Elsie - then 10 - was airlifted to Newcastle’s Royal Victoria Infirmary and spent months in intensive care. Clara, faced with long days and nights on the ward, found herself writing as a way to cope: collecting recipes, sketching animals and building an imagined world where woodland and farm creatures take part in an exuberant countryside cook-off.
“Do you just sit and stare and let all these terrifying thoughts consume you?” she wrote in her diary at the time. “A bit of everything, I think, until you need to get a grip, be strong, be positive, and keep your family steady.”
Those moments became the foundation of a book where foxes, owls, badgers and other Northumbrian creatures compete in a whimsical culinary contest, their stories interwoven with Clara’s own tried-and-tested family recipes.
The book features Clara’s illustrations as well as contributions from her children Elsie and Sam, who helped invent characters during the weeks following the accident on their family farm near Haydon Bridge.
Clara said: “For years I’ve imagined bringing together my recipes, my love of the countryside and the stories inspired by the animals around us. To see it become real – especially after everything our family has been through – fills me with gratitude, joy and wonder.”
Last year, she completed the 34-mile North York Moors ultra event, raising £22,000 for the North East Air Ambulance in thanks for the lifesaving care given to Elsie.
The book is published by Curlicue, an independent press near Hexham dedicated to northern writers and place-rooted stories.
Publisher Jane Pikett said: “Clara Nicholl has created something truly unusual: a book rooted in the Northumbrian countryside, where animals come alive on the page, stories sparkle with warmth and creativity, and the recipes are simple yet special enough to treasure. It’s delightful.”
The Great Wildlife Cook-Off: Food & Fables from Honeycrook Farm is available now at claranichollcatering.com