Have you ever met a group of friends that you’re immediately jealous of because of how close they are?

Several years back, I experienced that.

It was a story I was working on in Lowellville on this unit of women who make jewelry and pass them out. They are the positarians.

These ladies do everything together — vacation, watch their families grow, make jewelry, laugh (they shared some innocent pranks they do every so often) — and eat.

I remember walking into this beautiful house after a mutual friend took me to the craft session.

Immediately the friends, who range in age from their 60s and up, started hugging me, talking excitedly about what they all do while leading me to the kitchen. Instantly, I felt comfortable.

There were a couple of types of chicken, salads and cheesy potatoes, because it’s not a get-together if there aren’t cheesy potatoes, and so much more that I can’t remember.

The very best thing I do remember, though, was this dip.

White and in a smaller oval baking dish, it was fresh from the oven.

Already immersed in this sacred circle of women, I felt confident enough to ask for the recipe before I even tried it.

“Whatever this is, it smells incredible and not to be dramatic, but I feel like I’ll be a better person if I eat this regularly,” I said.

Softly laughing, my new friend told me it’s deceivingly easy to make.

As aromatic as it was, I didn’t believe her.

“Really, it’s only three ingredients,” she said.

My jaw hit the counter as I was already digging in.

It was a creamy concoction with a hint of Vidalia onion that paired well with chicken fingers, veggies and the array of crackers.

As we all know, most things that are that delicious aren’t healthy. Alas, that’s the case with this piece of heaven.

“It has cheese and mayonnaise,” she said. “It’s a guilty pleasure.”

This is not something I should eat every day.

We kept bonding over her contribution to the evening and my inner reporter didn’t realize I was kind of grilling her about the recipe.

“Have you tried other onions? What about adding different vegetables?”

Red onions just didn’t seem to punch up the flavor the way she wanted, and yellow onions didn’t taste right, either.

Some other vegetables made the consistency a bit watery, so sticking with a sweeter onion was the recipe for success in this situation.

She perfected the best dip.

That’s just a testament to what food does; it adds flavor to most settings.

I got a fun feature and awesome pictures, made new friends that day and have a recipe to share.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I have.

Sweet Onion Dip

Ingredients

1 Vidalia onion

1/2 block Swiss cheese

2 tablespoons of mayonnaise

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Chop the onion.

Grate or cube the cheese.

Add the onion and cheese into a mixing bowl.

Add mayonnaise.

Transfer to a flat and shallow baking dish.

Bake for 50 minutes.

Cool for a few minutes before serving.

Share your favorite recipes and memories with Features Editor Ashley Fox at afox@tribtoday.com.