Although Elizabeth was well cared for, her parents were far from overly affectionate and Elizabeth and her sisters were cared for by a nanny away from the main areas of the home, in the nursery. Elizabeth remembers the food the children were served as being plainly cooked, boring, often stodgy and even odious. Her one treat was when the nanny cooked field mushrooms and cream or garden fruit and sugar over the nursery fire. Her later interest in food can be traced back to her early days at Wootton.