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Aside from prying open Houston's margarita-obsessed cocktail preferences, anvil bar & refuge has delved into educating the eager about what they drink. Saturday's Spirit & Cocktails 101 focused on that island nectar, scotch. (And we strayed into gin's storied past too.)

Of all that has gone digital these days, the scotch class cannot: no digital classroom, this. Nearly of 50 us assemble in the bar. Each student sits before an anthology of scotches that shimmer gold and amber in the afternoon sun.

A roadmap to the various subtle and sledgehammer tastes of scotch

Each stubby glass wears a concave glass lid: all the better to prevent that honey, peaty, caramel, or briny fragrance from wafting away. The left side of our roadmap offers a blended, two Islas, and an Orkney. On the right, a Lowlands, a Speyside, and two Highlands.

Island geography

Equally important, we all have water, bread, olive oil, and roasted hazelnuts within easy reach. The cumulative power of tasted scotches should not be underestimated! (And the roasted hazelnuts, which seem too salty and oily before the tasting, turn out to be tireless palate-cleansers.)

Next up: actual tastes and a few cocktails, too.

And thus ended the baking extravaganza in a utilitarian bent. For the third act of baking Sunday, I tried out a simple, hearty recipe for that staple of the Irish isle: soda bread.

The recipe is courtesy of the good folks at Baking Bites, who rightfully point out that a bread without yeast is an easy kitchen feat indeed: Oats and Honey Irish Soda Bread.

The resulting loaf emerges from the oven with a faint golden tinge, although its free-form shape resembles nothing so much as vacillating amoeba. The flavors mingle ever so well, with a sharp burst of raisin tempered by a hint of mellow honey. And the bread is photogenic, too.

Slabs of honey-raisin Irish soda bread ever so gently toasted.

Act 2 of the baking extravaganza involves chocolate, of course. No rightful whirlwind of Sunday afternoon baking can be complete without a richly flavored chocolate treat.

The chosen recipe for triple chocolate espresso brownies (from cooksillustrated.com) certainly amps up the chocolate quotient. Only three types of chocolate will suffice: I rummage through my pantry for unsweetened, semi-sweet, and bittersweet chocolate. The recipes also directs that this triumvirate be accompanied by cocoa powder and espresso. In the land of brownies, these mighty treats bully lesser brownies and skulk around dark alleys after school.

Chocolate, chopped and thoroughly tasted.

Morse code writ small in the mixing bowl

Thrice delicious: a trio of triple chocolate espresso brownies nestled together.

In fact, the final lines of the recipe illustrate just how robust these brownies are. A proper serving is a one-inch square, no more. Yes, this recipe stays in the recipe box (or recipe file, if you fear anachronisms).

The urge to bake up something tasty—to fling flour at the farthest corners of the kitchen and to fill the house with a gourmand's perfume—shouldn't be denied. And so, I tackled three new recipes on Sunday.

First up in the baking extravaganza: a recipe from Baking Bites for lime-coconut crumble bars. To be fair, this may be the lazy way out of making a key lime pie. But I'm okay with that, particularly when the crust is a sandy and buttery bed studded with oats and coconut.

Eight limes gave their zests and juice for the greater good: lime-coconut crumble bars.

The basement of the bar is studded with oats and shredded coconut.

The mezzanine level contributes satiny texture and the resolute punch of lime juice and zest.

A still life in blue and yellow: three tasty squares of lime-coconut crumble bars.

You put da lime in da coconut... and savor the tart twang that closes with buttery notes of oat and coconut.