By Mary Jo Spiegel
Enquirer contributor

It's summer driving season and chances are, if you hit the open road, you hit a Cracker Barrel Old Country Store. Started in 1969 by Dan Evins in Lebanon, Tenn., Cracker Barrel quickly spread across the South with 13 stores by 1977.

The southern branch of my family refuses to believe the chain has crept north. Visit them and they will insist: "We have to take y'all to Cracker Barrel." Well yeah, because with over 480 Cracker Barrels now in 41 states, we only passed one every five miles on our drive down.

But really, this rampant expansion is for the greater good, all part of Cracker Barrel's work to "recreate a time gone by" and to preserve "the values of rural America." They're probably building a Cracker Barrel on some good farm land by a freeway right now for that very purpose. Don't be fooled by their holding company, corporate status or investor relations department - that's all part of what it takes today to remain "old-fashioned country people."

Old-fashioned country people who don't share recipes, of course. But, judging from the responses to Dana Bedel of Independence's request for a taste-alike version of Cracker Barrel's hash browns, there are plenty of Old Country Store fans who know the joy of a good recipe is not keeping it to yourself.

Many sent in this from Top Secret Restaurant Recipes (Plume 14), but it's not exactly Cracker Barrel's. "My husband likes it better," confides Terri Billups of Maineville.

Cracker Barrel's Hash Brown Casserole

26 ounces frozen country-style hash browns

2 cups shredded Colby cheese

1/4 cup minced onion

1 cup milk

1/2 cup beef stock

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine frozen hash browns, cheese, and onion in large bowl. In another bowl, combine milk, beef stock, 1 tablespoon melted butter, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper. Pour liquid mixture over hash browns and mix well.

Heat remaining butter in large, oven proof skillet. When skillet is hot, spoon in hash brown mixture. Cook, stirring occasionally, until cheese has melted (about 7 minutes). Place skillet into oven and bake 45 to 60 minutes, or until browned. Makes 4 servings.

• Donna Sprinkle of Woodstock, Ga., sent this decadent, hash brown version while visiting her mother, Betty Bassman, in Cheviot.

Donna's Hash Browns

1 stick butter

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 pint sour cream

1/2 cup chopped onion

Salt and pepper, to taste

30 ounces frozen hash browns

Melt butter in skillet over low heat. Add cheese, stirring, until just melted. Remove from heat. In separate bowl, mix together sour cream, onion, salt and pepper. Stir in butter and cheese mixture. Mix in frozen hash browns. Spread in large casserole dish, dot top with extra butter if desired. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes, or until heated through. Makes 6 servings.

Can you help?

Barbara Johnson in Loveland would like a recipe similar to Fiesta Bravo's fresh tomato salsa.

I have the Kresge's chili burger recipe Dolores Sanders wants, but does anyone have dime store lunch counter memories to share?

Jerri Roberts in Wyoming longs to recreate the zucchini blossom pizza she enjoyed in Tuscany.

Send food questions, tips, recipe requests and recipes to Saucy Cook, the Enquirer, 312 Elm St., Cincinnati 45202. E-mail: maryjo@saucycook.com. Include name, neighborhood, e-mail and phone number.