Recipe Revival

Many folks have memories of their grandmother’s cooking, and many others still have grandmothers who cook. But for those who have neither, Ventura author John Darling is willing to lend you his.

His memories, that is, not his grandmother.

Darling, 44, has compiled recipes that his grandmother Loretta Duffy, 87, prepared when he was a child growing up in Michigan. The 80-plus dishes, under the title “Grandma’s Favorite Recipes,” are available over the Internet from the BookShelf Online Web site.

“As a kid in Michigan, the only thing I can remember is grandma’s farm,” Darling said, “and my fondest memories are being there and always having something great to eat at grandma’s house.”

Darling got the idea for the cookbook about 10 years ago when he was helping his grandmother clean out her home. While going through her belongings, Darling came upon a box of mostly handwritten recipes she had collected over the years.

“She would always get recipes from her friends and they would have no title. She called them Nella’s Cake or Anna’s Deep-Fried Fish,” Darling said.

Along with the contributions of Nella and Anna, the collection of recipes includes spinach casserole, shoofly pie, sour-cream raisin pie, French beef salad, “Best-Ever Muffins,” pear bread, venison casserole, “Easy Potato Pancakes,” liver loaf, potato chip cookies, avocado pie and cornmeal dumplings.

“Some of the recipes, for people on a health kick, would make you cringe,” he said. “I say these are coronary wonders. But everybody in my family lives to be 100 or so.”

The 42-page book can be downloaded, for $3.99, from www.bookshelfonline.com. A hard-cover spiral-bound copy also can be ordered over the Internet for $5.99 plus shipping costs.

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La Dolce Vita, the Lobster Trap, Yasmeen’s, the Chart House, the Whale’s Tail and Kona Ranch House will be among the restaurants cooking up their specialties at the Taste of Ventura food and wine festival Friday through Sunday at Channel Islands Harbor.

Along with the food, the fifth annual tasting party will include a sampling of wines--including Clos Du Bois and William Hill vintages--and more than a dozen microbrewery beer selections. Nonalcoholic drinks also will be available.

The festival, which will include musical entertainment, will run Friday from 5 p.m. to midnight, Saturday from noon to midnight and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Admission is $6 adults, $4 seniors and military, free for children age 14 and younger. Information: 985-4852.

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After 17 years at their present location, the owners of Ventura’s Cottage Cafe are getting ready to relocate. The short move, from 1907 E. Thompson Blvd. to 2611 E. Thompson Blvd., is scheduled for completion by Memorial Day.

As might be expected, a lot of work is going into the change of address. There’s the kitchen to set up, the dining area to arrange and tiles to lay for a walkway from the rear parking lot to the restaurant.

Husband and wife restaurateurs Dennis and Kathi Taylor have asked their regular customers and other interested diners to sponsor a tile. For a minimum $5 donation, participants can put their name or other identifying marks on one of 200 tiles. So far about half have been claimed.

All proceeds will benefit Project Understanding, a Ventura organization that serves the homeless and low-income residents.

Those names should be walked upon for a long time, with the Taylors having signed a 20-year lease on the space at the new Thompson Plaza shopping center.

Along with a new address, Cottage Cafe also will offer new hours, serving dinner for the first time in about eight years.