Have you been to the Pie Lady yet? What kind did you get?

There’s all sorts of talk inside the Farm Progress Show office. While a team of nine Farm Progress editors, including me, were out scouring the 100-acre exhibit area seeking new products to write about, there’s always some fun and camaraderie mixed in.

At the air-conditioned show office, we found respite from the heat and humidity, allowing us to catch up with computer work, each other and … to eat pie!

Walking down 12th Avenue on the show grounds, the chugging of a motor churning homemade ice cream is a clear sign you are close. That refreshing dairy goodness complements the from-scratch, flakey crust and fruit-filled perfection served up by The Pie Lady, Laura Bru of Gladbook, Iowa.

My colleagues were boasting about her taste-tempting creations, as were exhibitors. When I found out she was serving up cherry pie made from Michigan tart cherries — which she marketed with signage on her food truck — I had to pay her a visit. She did not disappoint, as it was the indulgence I was looking for to top off the three-day show in Boone, Iowa.

MICHIGAN CHERRY PIE: The Pie Lady at the Farm Progress Show boasts about using Michigan tart cherries to supply the flavor, color and aroma she’s looking for to complement the sugar in her pies.

So, who’s this Pie Lady that one of the editors (Pam Caraway) scoped out on Facebook prior to the show to know exactly where her food truck was located on the grounds?

Laura has been serving up natural, preservative and dye-free pies at Farm Progress show since her debut in 2018. And not just when the show’s in Boone. She makes the trek to Decatur, Ill., too.

So why Farm Progress Show?

Laura and her husband, Ryan, are seventh-generation cash crop farmers in central Iowa, and are familiar with Farm Progress Show. Ryan has been coming to the show since he was a young boy. As a stay-at-home mom of two young children, Laura started making pies and bringing them to farmers markets as a small supplemental income and a way to teach her children business and social skills.

“My mother-in-law, who passed in 2007, used to make pies for my father-in-law for whatever occasion. So, I kind of took that over, and it snowballed from there into a full-fledged business,” she says. “We took a leap in 2018 by buying a certified food truck — my little kitchen on wheels. It was a shot in the dark getting into the show, but I’m thankful I did.”

She sells at other events, including the National Balloon Classic, but really enjoys Farm Progress Show, which is her largest show. “I’m with my people there, and even though our spot changes every year, it’s wonderful how many people seek us out,” Laura says.

MARKETING: A sign on Bru’s food truck makes visitors aware of where she is sourcing her tart cherries.

Like farming, it’s a family business with her husband, and her now grown-up children Lillian, 18, and Jay, 17, who help out — as well her father-in-law, Ken, and others. “My husband started churning homemade ice cream, because what goes better with pie than ice cream?” Laura says.

Nothing is artificial in her pies, and the crust is made with “good old lard — there’s nothing better,” she says.

More than 300 pies, with six slices to a pie, were sold. That’s a lot of pie, and I believe it, because there was always a line outside her truck. Strawberry-rhubarb was the flavor of choice at the show, which sold out at times. Laura’s favorite is razzleberry, which is a combination of raspberry, blueberry and blackberry.

So why single out Michigan cherries to promote her cherry pies? “It’s like my apple pies. I don’t veer from my Granny Smith apples, because I know it’s good; it’s the flavor I want with every bite of pie,” she says. “With my cherry pies, I want that tart cherry because it is such a good complement to the sugar that’s added. It’s dependable, consistent, and it gives beautiful color. It’s delicious. I’ve tried sweet, dark cherries, but you don’t get that color, flavor or aroma I get from that beautiful Michigan tart cherry.”

HOMEMADE ICE CREAM: What’s better with homemade pie than homemade ice cream? Here, Laura Bru’s husband, Ryan, tends to the churning at Farm Progress Show.

Farm Progress Show was her last show of the year. “My husband says we’re only a couple weeks out from harvest, so I have to switch gears and change my occupation from baker to grain cart operator,” Laura says.

If you missed her this year, mark it as a must-stop in Decatur! For me, it was a slice of home found in America’s heartland.