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Michelle Hannaford started freeze drying apples and other fruit during the Covid-19 pandemic because she was looking for a way to preserve food when supplies were short.
Now, she freeze dries much more.
Hannaford, who owns Infinity Farms in Coleman, started dabbling in freeze drying other foods, and was at the Mt. Pleasant Farmers Market Thursday to sell freeze dried ice cream and candy along with fruits.
“It just spiraled into this great candy adventure,” Hannaford said. “Every week, we’re taking new requests.”
Hannaford described Coleman as a “food wasteland” that now has a farmers market in its infancy that she wants to see grow so residents have food options; Thursday was her first day selling her creations in Mt. Pleasant but she also sells at the Beaverton farmers market.
Hannaford was selling her freeze dried versions of commercial candies but in doing so, she had to create names for the treats that are not copyrighted, such as the assorted flavors of “Schizznittles” that were formerly Skittles.
Freeze drying often changes the texture and size of the candy, as Amara Hammick, and Daveigha Issa – both 11 year olds from Mt. Pleasant – found out when they purchased the puffed up fruity treats.
Some candy doesn’t change, but Hannaford said Skittles expand, gummy worms end up expanding and looking like psychedelic cheese puffs, and other candies that puffed up during their metamorphosis are Milk Duds, Bit O Honey, two types of gummy worms, four flavors of Skittles, and Air Heads.
Coming up with flavor combinations and finding out how candies change during the freezing process is incredible fun for Hannaford, who was thrilled with the crowd at Island Park Thursday and the number of both children and adults who wanted to buy her products.
Popular freeze dried fruits Hannaford sells include strawberry infused banana chips and some dried fruits that have no added sugar.
Strawberry infused bananas are a two part process, with Hannaford first drying the strawberries and pulverizing them in a food processor to sprinkle on the dried banana chips.
Freeze Dried Strawberry Price Her “Far Out Fruit Rollups” are “like a Sun Chip and a fruit rollup had a baby,” Hannaford said.