It is impossible just to give, or you can do it, you can give and give and give and give some more, but if at some point you don’t start getting from somewhere, something will give out.  You need to be restored every once in a while, and if no one is around to give to you, then you either have to change who you are hanging around with, or make soup.  The foundation of soup is, “sit down and let me love you.”  The stronger the foundation, the better the soup.  You can make soup with a boullion cube and add a little water to it, but it is a little like trying to get love from a Coke commercial.

Put some cannellini beans up to soak and let them sit for at least four hours or overnight.  Rinse and get them in a big pan with new water, a spill of delicious olive oil, salt, a fresh sage leaf or piece of thyme and a whole clove of garlic.  Bring to a boil and then simmer until they are soft.  Use a pound of beans.

In another pan add a healthy spill of olive oil and then add three small onions and the inside stalks from one head of celery cut into a fine dice.  Season with salt and cook over a low to medium flame until they are delicious, about 25 minutes.  Add a 28 ounce can of tomatoes, that you have crushed with your hands.  Simmer for 30 minutes.  Smash half the beans and add to the tomatoe mixture.  Add the rest of the beans and their liquid.  Saute a few whole cloves of garlic and add cleaned and chopped swiss chard, one or two bunches and then season with salt, cover, and cook for about 10 minutes.   Strain, then give it another drizzle of olive oil.  Put a bit of the greens in the bottom of each soup bowl.  Taste the soup for salt, pepper and olive oil.  Ladle on top of the greens.  Add homemade croutons and smush them into the soup.  Top with parmigiano reggiano.