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I don't remember how I originally stumbled across this website and this recipe, but I printed it out a million years ago and have had it filed in my "try soon" recipe folder. (Yes, I'm a hoarder, but I'm obsessively organized and can usually put my hands on the EXACT piece of paper that I'm looking for in a minute flat...it's a disorder, I know, but I usually use it to my advantage...) I happened to have all of the necessary ingredients on hand this morning, so decided to give these a try.

This recipe calls for Penzey's Baking Spice, which I thought would be easy to concoct on my own. I mean, why bother with buying some blend of cinnamon, mace, cardamom and anise, when I already have those things in my spice cabinet? I can figure out how much to mix in, right? The problem was, as I soon discovered, that I only had anise seeds in my spice cabinet, not ground anise, which I thought would be better for sprinkling into baked goods. Undaunted, I just figured I'd get some the next time I went to the store. I tried my regular grocery store. No luck (it's a smallish store, in the suburbs and not terribly specialized, so I wasn't shocked). So, I decided to try the health food store and the local gourmet foods store. Still no luck. OK, I was starting to think that was really weird. They finally opened a new gigantic foods store in my neighborhood (for my East Coast buddies, the new store is VERY much like a Wegman's: you can buy your upscale olives, imported cheeses...they have an in-store sushi bar, even....but you can also buy Tide and 7-Up, unlike at the health food or gourmet store) and so I decided to try there. Still no luck.

Well, when we passed through Houston recently, one of the places that I wanted to go was to the Penzey's Spices store. They have great prices on bulk spices and they have some delicious-sounding proprietary spice blends (about 4 different kinds of curry powders alone) that I was nervous about buying from the catalog (I wanted to be able to smell, etc.). Well, wouldn't you know it...they had ground anise, so I ended up getting some there. I should have just ordered the Baking Spice from them in the first place.

10 packets (one packet was plenty for all of the muffins) for about 50 cents...

I found the vanilla sugar recently on a field trip to the Hong Kong Supermarket, which is odd because the sugar is from Germany. I think it's made with artificial vanilla flavoring, but it's still good. If you want to make your own, just chop a vanilla bean into 1/2 inch segments and place it in a sealed, plastic container with 2 cups of coarse sugar and let it sit for a few weeks, giving it a shake to blend every couple of days, or whenever you think about it.

These muffins were absolutely delicious. The polenta gave them a delicious crunch; the buttermilk made them very rich and moist and the batter was thick enough that the blueberries didn't all sink to the bottom of the muffins (I hate that).

If you're not as afflicted with OCD single-minded and determined as I am, feel free to substitute Chai Spice blend or Cinnamon Spice blend or just a couple of shakes of cinnamon to this recipe, instead.

Or just leave it out altogether.

That wouldn't bother me at all.

Really. Not a bit.

Well.........maybe just a little bit.

Well, how 'bout if you don't use the Baking Spice, you just don't tell me about it, OK?

I made this recipe again this week. It's one of our favorites, but this time I actually made it the way that I usually do, with buttermilk biscuits instead of sweet potato and with green peas instead of green beans. t's neither gourmet, nor particularly picturesque, but the kids do really like it. Great cold-weather comfort food. Hubby douses his with sriracha, but he does that with everything.

Here is the buttermilk biscuit recipe that I use. I usually use the biscuits for Chicken a la King, but they are equally good to accompany any dinner or for a special breakfast treat. Girl LOVES them with Strawberry Butter (mix together 1/2 cup softened butter and 1/2 cup strawberry preserves). I used to make biscuits with sausage gravy for Hubby every once in a while, but I've forgotten and haven't done that in a while. Hmmmmm......maybe next weekend.

Easy Buttermilk Biscuits

2 sticks butter (NOT margarine)
4 cups flour
2 tsp. salt
4 tsp. baking powder
1 and 1/2 cups buttermilk
4 Tbsp. melted butter (1/2 stick)

Stir together flour, baking powder and salt. Cut butter into flour mixture with stand mixer or pastry cutter until mixture has a uniform, "mealy" texture.

Blend in buttermilk only until ingredients are combined and starting to form a ball.

Place dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll out to about 3/4-inch thickness and cut with a biscuit cutter (mine is about 2.5 inches across), using a little extra flour, if necessary. Do not "twist" the cutter as you cut; only cut straight down. Place dough circles on a baking sheet that has been lined with parchment paper. Brush with half of melted butter.

Bake at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes. Watch biscuits carefully; they should only be cooked until they are no longer "doughy" in the middle or on the bottom and are browned on top. Remove from oven and brush with remaining melted butter. Makes about 22 biscuits.

My mother used to be an assistant district attorney in Beaumont, Texas. The country jail was in the same building, a few floors above. The jail cafeteria made these rolls regularly (at least when the grand jury was in session, I don't think they made them for the prisoners), and they smelled so good while my mother was at work that she had to ask for the recipe. They are a holiday MUST for our family now. My mother and I used to make pans and pans of them to give as teacher gifts at Christmas and it would be unthinkable to have a meal with the extended family without them. My kids (and Hubby, and my dad) go CRAZY for them. They are rich, moist, yeasty and YUMMY. My mother insists that using margarine (instead of butter) and instant mashed potatoes (instead of "real" ones) provides a lighter texture. That does go against my real/slow/whole food philosophy, but I must admit that I wouldn't change a thing about the way these rolls taste, so she must be right.

"Jailhouse" Rolls

1 cup mashed potatoes (reconstituted instant ones recommended)
2 sticks margarine
3 eggs
7 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups lukewarm water
1 package dry yeast

Mix yeast in water; blend and set aside. Mix potatoes, eggs, margarine, sugar and salt. Add flour. Add yeast water. Mix. Place in a greased bowl and cover with a cool, damp cloth. Refrigerate for 2 hours. Remove from refrigerator. Roll dough out to about 3/4 inch thickness and cut with a biscuit cutter. Place in buttered pans (8" round cake pans work well). Brush the tops with melted butter and let rise for several hours. Bake at 450 degrees for 10 - 15 minutes until lightly browned on top.

Cinnamon Roll Version
(too delicious for a description to do them justice - just trust me)

1 recipe prepared Jailhouse Roll dough

for cinnamon rolls:
1/4 cup margarine, melted
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional, unless you're making them for me)
1/2 cup golden raisins (optional)

for icing:
2 cups powdered sugar
2 Tbsp margarine
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 or 3 Tbsp milk

Prepare dough as above. Divide dough in half after removing from the refrigerator. Roll each dough half into a large rectangle. Brush each rectangle with melted butter. Sprinkle each with a mixture of the sugar, brown sugar and cinnamon. Add chopped pecans and/or golden raisins to each rectangle, if desired. Roll rectangle into a log. Cut into 3/4 inch slices and place in a buttered pan. Let rise for several hours. Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes. Let rolls cool in pan. Mix together powdered sugar and butter in the food processor. Add vanilla and milk. Drizzle over cinnamon rolls and DEVOUR.