Happy Birthday, Heather! I got you a blog.

This year my lovely friend Heather packed up her many, many pairs of shoes and moved to the beautiful European island from which her (also lovely) boyfriend hails. I promised her recipes. Here is the first, which was originally published in Gourmet (RIP). Visit Epicurious.com for the full recipe. I've copied my altered ingredient list below so you know what you're dealing with. I replaced the chicken broth with a vegetable version and omitted the sausage. This is the perfect recipe for using up those sad-looking rinds in your cheese drawer (what--you don't have one of those?).

• 1 lb dried white beans such as Great Northern, cannellini, or navy
• 2 onions, coarsely chopped
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 5 cups broth
• 2 qt water
• 1 (3- by 2-inch) piece Parmigiano-Reggiano rind
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 bay leaf (not California)
• 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh rosemary
• 8 carrots, halved lengthwise and cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 lb kale (preferably lacinato), stems and center ribs discarded and leaves coarsely chopped

A few notes:

• Presoak your beans. It's an easy habit to adopt. Dump a bag into a large bowl, cover with water, and leave out while you go to work or overnight as you sleep.It's less work than operating a can opener, I promise.
• If your eyes are sensitive to onions, bring a small fan into the kitchen to blow the noxious gases away from you as you chop. Or let the floodgates open and pretend your man done did you wrong. Theater pairs wonderfully with cooking.
  
• Only fresh garlic is acceptable in my kitchen.
• If I don't have homemade broth on hand, I use vegetable bouillon from Rapunzel. Not everything can be from scratch.
• Rosemary is an incredibly hearty plant. I keep a pot in my windowsill and despite egregious neglect, it's still with me.
• This soup ages well. Cook it the night before and heat it up for an incredibly warming lunch. The temperature here has been dipping into the 20s, so that is exactly what I'm doing.
• Go ahead. Grate some fresh parmigiano reggiano on top. You've earned it.