Disclosure: I received ICBINB coupons, a Flip cam, and a gift card to create this video and pay for groceries.

I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter contacted me recently to ask if I’d like to visit a local farmers market to gather items for a lunch party with friends afterwards—created with recipes using ICBINB, or course. I turn down a lot of PR offers, but this sounded like fun, and I had a tub of I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter in my fridge already, so I do actually use their product. I also tend to be a recluse, so I thought this would be a good way to force myself outside and see what Chapel Hill has to offer.

There are several farmers markets near me. The Carrboro Farmers Market seemed to be the most popular one, but I heard parking was a mess. So I decided to go to the South Estes Market instead since it’s held in a mall parking lot with plenty of spaces. It was also on the way between my place and my brother and sister-in-law’s house, who I invited to come with me.

You can follow my adventures in the video above, which I probably spent far more time editing than was really required. (At least that Digital Video 101 class I took in college finally paid off.) I did have lots of fun at the market, even though I was a little anxious about having to film people and ask them questions. (See above, recluse.) Strangely enough, I really enjoyed it and I learned a lot of things I would never have discovered otherwise. I guess it’s good to move out of your comfort zone once in a while (says the girl who just moved away from half her friends and family).

As for the ICBINB, it tasted good on bread and corn on the cob. (And damn, that was some good bread by The Farm Fairy.) Their pitch is that it has less saturated fat than butter, no hydrogenated oils (those dreaded TRANS FATS!), and no cholesterol. I’d never used it in the spray pump bottles before, but it made it a lot easier to butter my corn than it was with a knife. I tried it on some popcorn later, and it added flavor without making the popcorn too soggy. So, I feel fine recommending their product, and hopefully you found the video to be entertaining enough. You can learn more at the I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter web site, including a contest to win a grill basket and a recipe library. There’s also an ICBINB YouTube Channel.

In case you’re interested, here is a list of vendors I spoke to. BTW, if someone was kind enough to talk to me and/or let me record them, I bought something at their stall or threw money in their banjo case. I had to pitch my book at book fairs, so I know what it’s like sitting behind that table.

• Bread and honey from The Farm Fairy
• Corn from Roberson Creek Farm
• Veggies from Timberwood Organics (certified organics!)
• Peaches from Kalawi Farm (the peach people!)
• Music by…some banjo-playing dude.
• Stock music called “Rampaging Bulldozer” was downloaded from FreeSoundtrackMusic.com.

Warning: Tech-girl ramblings ahead
The software that comes with the FlipCam wasn’t advanced enough for the editing I wanted to do, so to edit this video I used a trial version of Videopad Video Editor. I’d give it a C+ (and no, that’s not a computer science joke). It was able to open the MP4 files that the FlipCam exported, and I was able to split the audio tracks away from the video. However, if I tried replacing a video clip or inserting one into the middle of the timeline, all my placed audio effects would because misaligned. Also, when I exported, several of the title frames went missing, so I had to encode it and then edit that and encode it again, which is why the video is a little lower quality than what I’d prefer. Anyone got recommendations for a better, free video editing application for Windows? I considered Microsoft Movie Maker first, but it wouldn’t open the MP4 files.

PastaQueen is not giving away butter. Find out what she is giving away behind the jump.

The Superbowl is not until Sunday, but the residents of Indianapolis do not care. Our local news crew is already on the ground in Miami covering every movement of the team. My neighbor has proudly hung a Colts banner outside his front door. Kroger has blue frosted cupcakes and cookies on sale. And yesterday the city dyed the canal blue. You would think water would already be blue, but it wasn’t ELECTRIC BLUE, now was it?

So, when I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter contacted me about giving away a gift set for a Superbowl party to me and one lucky reader, I decided, what the heck, let’s do it. As a resident of Indianapolis, I am practically mandated by law to watch the game, so I may as well throw a little party while I’m at it. I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter is giving away a gift set as part of their Reach Right campaign, which encourages people to make smarter food choices while also satisfying cravings. The gift set includes:

• Tasty appetizer and dessert recipes to help you plan your meal
• A serving dish for your Super Bowl spread
• $30 gift card to purchase your ingredients

No doubt there are some of you who prefer butter to vegetable spreads like I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter. That’s cool. I understand. You don’t have to enter. You can peruse the ingredients for ICBINB here and make your own informed nutritional decisions about the product.

To enter, just leave a comment on this entry. I’m a little late in posting this, so the contest is going to end at 11:59pm on Wednesday, February 3, 2010. The winner will be selected randomly and the prize will be shipped directly to the winner by ICBINB, hopefully in time for your own Superbowl party.

ICBINB also wanted you to know they are on Twitter @ICBINotButter.

BTW, if you are waiting for my thoughts on week 3 of The Beck Diet Solution, I have fallen a bit behind on that due to personal health problems, but I will try to get caught up by next Monday.