By now, cooking aficionados worldwide are familiar with the story: The big moment came in 1994, when Lorraine Lee, a homemaker in Ottawa, Canada, was making an Armenian orange cake. Out of frustration with her old grater, she picked up a new tool her husband, Leonard, had brought home from their hardware store, Lee Valley Tools. She slid the orange across its blades and was amazed. Lacy shards of zest fell from its surface like snowflakes. The Lees marveled at the tool, ate the cake, and then promptly changed the product description in their catalogue. The Microplane® grater had earned permanent space in the kitchen. It seemed as if a star was born overnight, but it didn’t happen quite that fast, in fact, it took over thirty years. With just a few modifications, and a slight change in our marketing plan, an entire new product line of graters for home…