Location
Wanette, Oklahoma
Expertise
Regional American cooking, Food gardening and preservation, Herb drying and honey infusions
- Rebecca has spent decades cooking with regional ingredients from Texas and Oklahoma, giving her a deep understanding of local foodways and rural culinary traditions.
- Her long history of gardening, canning, and home preservation has provided her with firsthand insight into sustainable, land‑based food systems.
- As a beekeeper who manages apiaries in two states, Rebecca possesses practical knowledge of pollinators, honey production, and the ecosystems that support them.
Experience
Rebecca Cross is a food and lifestyle writer whose perspective is rooted in a lifetime of Southern cooking, regional foodways, and hands-on kitchen work. She grew up in her family's café, learning from her mother and grandmother as they served home-cooked Texas dishes shaped by Southern, Tex-Mex, German, and Southwestern influences. Early jobs in local eateries gave her a ground-level view of small-town food culture, while decades of gardening, canning, and food preservation deepened her understanding of seasonal cooking and sustainable home kitchens. After years working alongside caterers and cake decorators through her floral career, she began writing for Total Apex Media's food vertical, covering rural food trends, chain restaurant releases, and the history behind regional dishes. Today, her work reflects a lifelong commitment to understanding where food comes from, how it evolves, and why it matters.
Mashed’s industry-leading coverage is created by qualified and experienced writers, and is reviewed and fact-checked by our editorial team to ensure everything is accurate and timely. Outside experts are also consulted to help deliver factual, up-to-date information.
Our mission is to inform and engage our readers, telling them things they need to know, things they want to know, and things they didn't know they wanted to know about food. We strive to always provide a well-rounded reading experience, whether that’s the news of the day or a new original recipe you can try making at home. In an effort to provide the most comprehensive, current, and accurate content, our editorial team constantly reviews and updates articles as necessary. Additional information on our editorial process available here.
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Restaurants
By Rebecca Cross
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link. This Kansas-born steakhouse, which once had hundreds of locations across the U.S., is down to one spot overseas.
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