I make a ton of this stuff every year, and I don't even like it. Too sweet for me -- or maybe it's that I know how much margarine and sugar went into it! I left a little vase of flowers on my neighbor's doorstep tonight to thank her for letting us use some of her daffodils for centerpieces, and I included a bag of the leftover matzo candy. I'm just sick of seeing it in the freezer! She isn't Jewish, so maybe she'll think it's exotic. :-) The pineapple-coconut truffles, on the other hand ... THAT I would eat all year. Mmmm!

"I wonder if that new auto glass repair process for chips would work?! It is for tempered glass. It's by a company called SAF-T or something like that." I think auto glass is a different animal--typically it's laminated with plastic in between layers of glass. Tempered glass like you use for windows doesn't get chips that slowly spread into cracks--instead, the whole thing goes at once into a zillion tiny cubes of glass. I had a bird hit a sliding window once, and it was pretty spectacular. The entire window cracked into a zillion pieces and the only thing that kept it from falling immediately from its frame was that it sagged against a chair that was in front of the window. Does anyone know if it is okay (acceptable under code and also not incredibly stupid) to use untempered glass for a backsplash?

Using tempered glass will help protect your window from heat related stress breakage - I suspect that the window company that suggested tempered glass was considering the possibilty of an after market window film and they realized that you would need tempered glass to avoid future heat-related stress problems. Using LowE is not an option, it is a necessity in your (or any other) environment. The primary consideration being what LowE coating to use in what environment. As mentioned, you do not need supplemental interior window film when you have a LowE coating...in fact, once again, it would be a very bad idea to do so when using annealed (non tempered) glass because of potential heat stress problems. As I mentioned in my earlier post, it is very unlikely that you will ever notice a color shift under normal viewing conditions when using a LowE coating. It really is a non-issue - LowE coated windows do not have a noticeable tint in transmittance (when looking thru the glass). Since your window faces south you should consider a couple different options (in addition to the solarban 60) when it comes to LowE coatings. Solarban 60 is a "LowE2" coating. That means that it has two layers of silver in the coating. Silver is the operative element in a LowE coating. LowE2 is considered to be a moderate solar heat gain coating. A LowE3 coating (LoE-366 mentioned earlier as an example) has three layers of silver in the coating and is considered to be a low solar heat gain coating - meaning very little solar heat will get thru the glass - summer or winter. In addition to the two and three silver layer coatings, there are also coatings that are considered to be high solar heat gain (a couple different types, including single-silver layer coatings). In a heating-dominated environment, a high solar heat gain coating on south-facing glass may be your best option because in the winter it is going to allow some very welcome heat into your home. The downside of course is that it will allow more summer solar heat gain than will either of the other two options. Solarban 60, as a moderate solar heat gain coating, will allow less solar heat gain in both winter and summer...but it will still allow some winter heat gain which is usually very welcome. How high up are you?

I've been taking classes at the Institute of Mosaic Art in Oakland, California. They offer a class in tempered glass mosaics that I would love to take which is on a Saturday & Sunday. I'm always surprised how far students will travel to attend these classes. I thought I was traveling a long way by coming from San Diego but I've met women from S. Carolina, Seattle, Detroit that come for the weekend glasses. Here is a link that might be useful: Tempered Glass Mosaic Class