An Invention That Marinated for 19 Years

Some might see Mary Hunter as an unlikely inventor. She's 73, for starters, and a home kitchen enthusiast who loves to cook for her friends and family.

Though Hunter adores flavorful food, after she was diagnosed with diabetes and high blood pressure she stopped cooking with salty marinades. Her meat was still good, but too bland.

Reporter Jack Hitt of the New York Times interviewed Mary recently. She told him, “I was writing down some recipes and God said to me that I should take that ink pen and stick holes all through it and put a clip on one side so that you can open it” — lengthwise — “and then put your onions and your garlic and your aromatics down the middle and put it inside your meat--then, you won’t have to eat bland foods.”

God's idea, a stainless steel marinating rod which has consistently outperformed its competitors in tests, is now called Mary’s Marinating Sticks. The product will soon go on sale in Target stores nationwide.

Writes Hitt: "Mrs. Hunter’s invention follows the classic arc seen in movies: she had a good idea, got it patented and found a market. But that’s the movies. In real life, it’s never that easy. For starters, Mrs. Hunter’s divine idea came to her in 1994. She’s been following through ever since."

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