Going to be in Vegas all of next week, Sun-Wed with my boss, Thurs-Sun with my wife, and was wondering if anyone had suggestions for moderate priced restaurants on the strip. This is my 6 time out and I'll be staying at Mandalay Bay without a car. I do have plans to take a cab over to Lotus of Siam, loved it last time and want to hit it again. Also on my list are Burger Bar and Mesa Grill. Probably hit Pinks at some point for a late night dog. Lunches are covered by the conference I'm attending. Anyone know of any hiddent gems on the strip, any new places I should try?

Make magazine this month has two projects that SEers may be interested in. One is a sous vide cooker/controller and the other is a yogurt fermenter.
Here is a link to the souse vide plans
http://makezine.com/25/sousvide/

Here is the yogurt fermenter
http://makezine.com/25/yogurt/

I was feeling pretty bummed this week and didn't make any dinners so I decided to try having some fun in the kitchen over the weekend.
Win #1 - My wife and I eat a lot of hummus for lunches and it pains me how much it costs so I decided to make some from scratch. Bought 1.5# dried chick peas and ended up with about 4 quarts of hummus. 1/2 was standard, the other I added sun dried tomatoes and chipotle chili powder. Both are pretty tasty and it only cost ~$8

Win #2 - Pretzel rolls. The sourdough starter was looking a little sad and needed to be taken out of the fridge and fed. As long as I was messing with it I might as well use it for something and I've been wanting to try making pretzels. Despite the yeast seeming to be a little lazy they rolls came out brown crispy and not too heavy. They haven't fully cooled and i've already eaten too.

Fail - Mozzarella. Our son's girlfriend sent us a cheese making kit and we had success with making ricotta. This time I tried making mozz and it turned out grainy, dry, and tough. I had some naan that I used for a quick and dirty pizza but the mozz was tasteless didn't even melt. Not sure what I did wrong but I'll try again.

What did you other serious eaters do this weekend and how did it turn out?

I'm taking advantage of the holiday today to spend some quality time in the kitchen by myself.
I started some pizza dough for dinner.
Going to make some lavash crackers, kale chips, and ginger beer.
I also need to clean the pantry in preparation for Thanksgiving
What's everyone else doing?

I spent last week in Vegas and Death Valley. Just thought I would post my food adventures.
Pizza - Had a slice from the park service vendor in Death Valley and it was one of the best slices I have ever had. Mostly because I had just finished riding my bike 125 miles, othewise it was crap.
El Jefe in Pahrump - Only non-chain restaurant we saw along the highway. Fabulous chicken mole, a lot more cinnamon that most moles I have had but not overwhelming and had just a little heat.
Coffee Cup in Boulder City - Little diner that was on the main street, had a big poster of Guy Fieri on the wall as he had done a DDD show there. Good chili verde(and the recipe is on the Food Network website
Burger Bar at Mandalay Bay - My third time there. Had the Kobe w/Foie Gras and truffle sauce and a few Saisons. Never disappoints.
Trevi in Caesars - Decent Italian food, pretty noisy since it is right by one of the fountains. Nothing fabulous and it was weird that the waitress asked if it was OK that the puttanesca was spicy.
Mesa Grill in Ceasars - Duck tacos are fantastic, tuna tartar was great, smoky collards had too much smoke and were too salty. Great tequila selection. Chatted with the bar expeditor and she has been there 6 years, she said Bobby is a very friendly and down to earth guy and when he is there regularly stays and drinks with the staff.
Border Grill in Mandalay Bay - Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken's casual mexican restaurant. Ceviche was tasty but nothing that I would rave about. Pork tacos with pickled onion were very satisfiying, espcially after adding some habanero salsa.
Lotus of Siam - heard about this place here on SE and it was fabulous. Appetizers of fish cakes and satay were solid standard Thai fare. The northern larb I had was amazing, and their level 4 for heat was just right. Enough to make me sweat, but not so hot that I couldn't taste anything. My boss had some panang curry that was also a cut above most that I have had.

Picked up some pork rind at the farmers market and I don't know what to do with it. I don't really care for the crispy fried rind snacks. I rendered some fat off and added it to some collards. Any suggestions?