TIDBITS : Spuds: Yogurt shop adds new machines, one to grind up some creative concoctions made of baked potatoes.

Ventura’s Cafe Yogurt & More just added some more more.

Last week, owner Cheri Burk unveiled two identical machines, one to produce an array of baked potatoes, the other to spit out a multitude of soft-serve yogurt and ice-cream flavors.

The spud machine will allow her to create made-to-order potatoes by mixing potato meat and other ingredients in the machine. She will pop the final product into the microwave to warm and serve either on a potato skin or in a cup.

Burk is now busy dreaming up combinations--maybe one with Caesar dressing, cheese, and butter, she said, or another with turkey and gravy. “You can create whatever you want,” she said.

As for the yogurt: “We put chocolate or vanilla nonfat yogurt into the machine. Then people can choose from all kinds of toppings--Heath bar crunch, chocolate chip cookie dough,” Burk said. And combinations, like strawberry-banana, can be made by mixing the fruits with the yogurt. The same technique is used for the ice cream.

The cafe is in the Target shopping center at 4020 E. Main St.

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Ron Fiducia and Scott Hinton are attracting novice coffee drinkers to their 2-month-old Simi Valley coffeehouse.

“A lot of people coming in have never had a cappuccino,” said Fiducia, an experienced coffee guzzler who co-owns the Coffee Connection. “Some have never seen a whole bean.”

The entrepreneurs have seen plenty of beans in their time, but they only recently learned about what goes into roasting and brewing them. “We had to research coffees and machines,” said Fiducia who, like Hinton, used to manage a finance company. “We spent a lot of time reading books about coffee and about what espresso really is.”

Coffee Connection offers 26 roasts and flavors daily, with selections changing periodically.

For now, the establishment also sells some pastries, but the owners are looking for a refrigerator large enough to accommodate perishable desserts and sandwiches. Coffee Connection is at 1407-X E. Los Angeles Ave., in the HomeBase shopping center.