no.stupid.answers

Polls: They’re often inaccurate, they’re often mis-worded, but gosh darn, are they fun!

We’d love to hear feedback from you, dear readers, on what you’d like to see here on no.stupid.answers. More company news? More videos? Well, I don’t know – that’s why I’m asking you…

Choose up to three answers and leave more feedback in the comments if you’ve got more to add.

Stay tuned for the next poll, when I ask what kind of polls you’d like to see…

You’re hungry. You have a frying pan. You have pants. So what’s the question?

How do you fry your pants so you can eat them?

Ingredients

• 1 pair of pants
• 10 cups vegetable oil
• Flour for dusting
• 3 cups milk
• 5 tablespoons vinegar
• 2 Tablespoon oil
• 3 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. Chill or freeze pants for several hours or overnight.
2. Heat 10 cups vegetable oil in deep fryer to about 375 degrees.
3. Mix together milk, vinegar and oil.
4. In another bowl, blend flour, baking powder and salt.
5. Whisk wet ingredients into dry and continue mixing until smooth. Refrigerate while oil heats.
6. Dust pants with flour and dip into the batter. Rotate pants until batter covers them.
7. Place carefully in hot oil. The Pants will float, so hold them under with a utensil to ensure even browning. They should turn golden in 3 to 4 minutes. Depending on the size of your deep fryer, you might be able to fry only one pair at a time, two at the most.
8. Remove pants to paper towel and let drain. Allow Pants to sit for about 5 minutes before serving.

Makes 1 pair. Serves 6.

Last week, while I was in New York attending BookExpo America on behalf of the Answers.com Content Team, our content integrators published a slew of new content on our site. I should go away more often.

Festivals and Special Events: every celebration, commemoration, feast day or fast day that’s important to any culture around the world – be the event holy or profane, solemn or kooky – all the relevant info is in here. Learn about the Dog Days, the Night of the Radishes, the National Manly Man Festival and Spam Cook-off, or the Tanabata (Star Festival).

In a related development, we also went live with a collection of “When is?” questions. For every one of the special days and events in the group mentioned above, we have an entry that asks and answers the question, “When is ?” E.g., When is Purim, When is Kentucky Derby?

Need a new set of wheels? Avail yourself of the professional expertise in our new Car Reviews and see what car writers have to say about the 2008 Chevrolet Avalanche, the 2009 Honda Civic Hybrid, and my own next car (heh heh), the 2010 Rolls-Royce Phantom.

Are you wondering: Is anyone keeping track of the asteroids and comets that come close to the Earth? Need to know what was the deepest oil well ever drilled? Curious about how dolphins are similar to humans, or what the newest Hawaiian island is? You can find the answers to these and hundreds of others questions in Geology Q&A and Oceans Q&A. Don’t forget to watch out for the black smokers.

We aim to answer. Happy reading.

The social life of the search engine: does it get any hotter than that?

At The Marker Com.vention (link in Hebrew), which took place yesterday in Rishon Letzion, Israel, Answers.com CEO and Founder Bob Rosenschein spoke as part of a panel titled, Search Engines: Steady State or a Gathering Storm?

The Answers.com CEO spoke about the necessary mix of search engine support as well as participation on social platforms. The future is one where Google is certainly still strong, but social media, including Facebook, are just as important.

Bob was in good company, as the other speakers on the panel included Yoelle Maarek, Senior Research Director at Yahoo! Israel; Arkady Volozh, Co-founder and CEO at Yandex; and Barak Berkowitz, Managing Director at Wolfram|Alpha.

Check out Bob’s take on the topic in the videos from the panel: Bob introducing Answers.com, discussing search and social, and describing the future of mobile search and apps.

The 140conf in New York City boasts a lot of speakers, but one in particular caught our eye: Caressa Cameron, Miss America 2010.

The Virginia beauty took a moment to listen to our questions and give answers about, well, questions and answers. Specifically about her experience answering questions during the pageant.

Check out the video interview.

On Answers.com, you’ll find doctors, dentists, arborists, lawyers, cosmetologists and even the occasional burgomaster or tidewaiter (go ahead, look em’ up!). This week, however, we are presenting ye’ with a recipe for greatness – Petera88 – one of our resident Chef superstars!

Bon appétit!

What is your Answers.com user name and the history behind it?

My user name is Petera88 and, quite simply, it is made up of my name (Peter Alton) and my favourite number (8).

Are you a Floating or Category Supervisor (which categories)?

I am a Category Supervisor supervising Individual Ingredients, Spices and Herbs, Ingredient Substitutions and China and Chinese Territories.

What other badges do you hold on Answers.com?

I am a Bronze Contributor.

Would you care to tell us about your family?

I am married to Eden, and we have a young son Christian who is 2-years-old.

Where do you live, how long have you lived there and why do you like the area?

We live in Portsmouth on the South Coast of the United Kingdom. We have lived here for the last 2 years and love the peace and quiet and friendly neighbourhood.

Where did you grow up and do you have any special memories of your childhood?

I grew up in Waterlooville and have great memories of home cooked dinners with my Mum.

What educational information would you like to share?

I studied Professional Cookery at Highbury College when I left school gaining a Distinction in my final year. I also passed a BA Degree in English Literature in 2007 after 6 years part-time study with the Open University.

What are some of your past and/or present occupations?

I am a qualified Chef and have worked in the industry for 25 years – working in the UK and away at sea in the Merchant Navy for P&O. I am currently a Fresh Food Buyer supplying Fresh Produce to several of the major supermarkets in the UK.

What are your key areas of knowledge, interest or expertise?

Having trained as a Chef, I have a love of food. I enjoy cooking and read anything food related. I like Asian food and, in particular, the food of Hong Kong, which is amongst the best in the world. I love Hong Kong having been there many times and also having met and married my wife there. I am also currently writing a book about the food and culture of Hong Kong, which I hope to complete later this year.

Do you have any collections or hobbies?

I enjoy cooking and reading anything to do with Asia or Hong Kong.

What do you like to do for recreation?

I enjoy playing with my son and watching sports as I am getting too old to play anymore!

What are a few random facts about yourself?

I had a trial for England Schoolboys and played rugby for Hampshire as a boy. I am a big fan of Alice Cooper. I can speak a little Cantonese.

What accomplishments are you proud of?

Qualifying as a Chef in 1984 and passing my degree 23 years later.

What are your special goals or dreams?

To make my Mum and Dad proud and to be happy and healthy and to have a good life with my wife and son.

How would you describe yourself or personality?

I am easygoing and warmhearted.

What brought you to Answers.com?

The desire to share knowledge and help others.

What keeps you coming back to Answers.com?

The fun of meeting and helping new friends from all over the world.

What is your favorite Answers.com activity?

I enjoy answering questions and discovering new things.

With the announcement this morning about Google’s taking on the world of sharing via Google Buzz, Answers.com has created a brand new Google Buzz Q&A category to answer the questions buzzing around inside your head.

Here are a few Q’s to get you started:

• What is Google Buzz?
• Why did Google create Buzz?
• Is Google Buzz available in Gmail?
• Does Google Buzz work on the iPhone?