SHELBYVILLE, Ky. — Colonel Harland Sanders' secret recipe for Kentucky Fried Chicken was not revealed in a handwritten note found in the basement of a home once owned by the fast-food giant's founder, KFC said Monday.

        Restaurateurs Tommy and Cherry Settle, who bought the white mansion from Col. Sanders in the 1970s, found the leather-bound 1964 datebook 16 months ago. It contained a recipe with 11 ingredients in specific proportions.

        Uncertain whether an enduring culinary secret had been unearthed, Mr. Settle said he wanted to authenticate the recipe and contacted KFC.

        The company, headquartered in nearby Louisville, claimed the Settles were actually looking for money and responded last week by suing the Settles to try to keep them from selling the list until KFC could determine whether it was the real thing.

        KFC dropped the lawsuit Monday after concluding the recipe wasn't even close to the Colonel's original recipe of 11 herbs and spices, said Amy Sherwood, a spokeswoman for KFC parent Tricon Global Restaurants Inc.

        “The Colonel's secret original recipe is safe and sound, locked in our vault,” Ms. Sherwood said.

        “We thoroughly examined the list of ingredients Mr. Settle threatened to sell through public auction, and they are definitely not the Colonel's secret original recipe.”

        The datebook, which collected dust for a quarter-century, was locked up under a judge's order but was to be returned to the Settles.

        Mrs. Settle said Monday she found the datebook while going through a boxful of books in the basement of the house.

        Mrs. Settle, who says Col. Sanders walked her down the aisle at her wedding, said she put the book away on a shelf.

        She thumbed through it some time later and found the handwritten recipe in the back.

        “I just counted it and thought, "Gee, that's 11 herbs and spices,'” Mrs. Settle said.

        The recipe included exact proportions for each ingredient, down to the milligram, she said.

        KFC's spokeswoman said later that the list does not include specific measurements.

        At first, the couple said, they laughed off the discovery.

        But later, out of curiosity, they contacted KFC headquarters to try to arrange a meeting, which prompted the lawsuit in Shelby Circuit Court.

        “It really got out of hand,” Mr. Settle said.

        Glenn Cohen, the Settles' attorney, said KFC should have shown more restraint and that the couple never mentioned money when talking to KFC.

        The company said the Settles were looking for payment for the book.

        Mr. Cohen said the couple were pleased KFC dropped the suit.

        “Having taken the position that it was not the original recipe, they had no option,” he said.

        Ms. Sherwood said KFC was dubious from the start about the handwritten recipe's authenticity but took action to protect its interests.

        “To KFC, our original recipe is priceless,” she said.

        The Settles haven't decided what to do with the datebook.

        As word of the handwritten recipe's existence spread, the couple were contacted by people around the world interested in buying it.

        “It is a historic artifact, a collector's item, a piece of Americana,” Mr. Cohen said. “It certainly has value, as memorabilia.”

        Mr. Settle said he's certain the handwriting was the Colonel's.

        The book detailed whom the Colonel met with and included other recipes, including his mother's recipe for salt-risen bread, the couple said.

        The Settles bought their Shelbyville home, a white mansion on U.S. 60, from Col. Sanders and his wife, Claudia.

        The couple operate the Claudia Sanders Dinner House on adjoining property. The popular restaurant, recently rebuilt and expanded after a devastating fire, specializes in Southern-style cooking.

        The Settles said they haven't used the fried chicken recipe at their restaurant. “We're happy with our recipe,” Mr. Settle said.

        Col. Sanders came up with the famous Kentucky Fried Chicken recipe in the late 1930s for Sanders Court and Cafe, his roadside eatery in Corbin, Ky.

        Col. Sanders sold the company in 1964, and with his wife opened the restaurant now owned by the Settles. Col. Sanders died in 1980. Mrs. Sanders died on New Year's Eve 1996.

        According to KFC, only a handful of people know the recipe, and those have signed strict confidentiality contracts.

        “One company blends a formulation that represents only part of the recipe. Another spice company blends the remainder,” the company's Web site says.

        “A computer processing system is used to safeguard and standardize the blending of the products, but neither company has the complete recipe.”

        In 1999, KFC had $8.9 billion in worldwide sales.

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