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Here's one of my favorite wintery soups for difficult times.
Bresse Mushroom Soup from the Greens cookbook.
Click my name for the recipe,

I leave out the cream, and it's just as perfect.
Esp since you're home, make the mushroom stock to enrich the soup.

having tried sara kate's mailing toffee recipe, i highly recommend it. i had to put it in the freezer to keep me from eating it all in one sitting! but in this case, one-sitting consumption may be just what the doctor ordered.

anything with lots of chopping and prep gets my mind off of any unpleasantness. maybe a veggie-rich cincinnati-style chili served over some pasta?

It's not cooking, but I clean out a few kitchen drawers each day when I'm suffering. A cup of cocoa on Valentine's day for sure and even a cup of tea, yes with a marshmallow on top, is soothing.
Momy

So sorry you're down but hang in there. Trust me, I know this one. I lost my husband last year, went through a landmark birthday of my own, and had other $$ and family losses. If you don't want to look like a Richard Simmons before ad, then here we go:

First: Happy 35th. Get some champagne and a trusted friend and wail. Second: Simmering on the stove? Nothing better than a chicken soupy type of thing - then choc. chip cookies scenting the room (make them on an as needed basis). I did the following: make some bread and give it away. You get the upper body exercise, someone else gets the calories and you get a feeling of giving. Better than all and I now do this regularly: GET A MASSAGE, make it a gift to yourself and have a pedicure. Arrange with a friend to send you flowers when you would least expect to get them. Have the friend sign the card "I've been admiring you for a long time. More to come"

As for Valentine's Day, I'm sure any guy on here would love to send you a card and so would I. Hang in there. Good luck.

When I am having a particularly trying time I tend to make home made pasta, best remedy in the world. It can take forever and is a great stress reliever, just whip up some homemade sauce to simmer on the stove and you will be set. Also for Valentine's Day sometimes watching sappy movies and eating chocolates with your girlfriends is the best recipe.

I always make an event out of solo holidays, especially particularly trying ones. My style is to buy a better than average bottle of wine, something really good, then I will plan a romantic meal just for me, something healthy and delicious that only I would like. Before dinner I take a bubble bath, put on loads of fabulous make-up, almost playfully as an experiment in trying new styles of make up then I dress up, and eat it all in front of some sappy movie. I can honestly say that I have seen all the Sex and the City episodes at least twice. Look at the bright side, now that you are single that bottle of wine will last a little longer.

Lisa,

I recommend the Hearty Vegetable Soup recipe in this month's "Cook's Country" magazine. Lots of prep, simmering, blending. Tasty and full of vitamins.

Also, I agree with momy. Clean out the clutter. Clean out your junk drawers. Let go of the phyical, and emotional clutter. Getting rid of things will make you feel better, and ready for new things to enter your life. Thirty-five is a good time in your life. You're still young, but your experiences have left you much wiser than your younger counterparts. You're ready to make good choices about your life. Your life starts right now.

Wow, Lisa, I am so sorry. That stinks. The breakup, the timing...

I live by myself too, and these are some of things that I do when I want a comforting, delicious meal. They all store or freeze well, too. A relatively long-cooking recipe that I love - easy, comforting and yet deliciously sophisticated - is Anthony Bourdain's mushroom soup. The mushrooms and onions sweat together for a while, then simmer with chicken broth for over an hour. It's marvelous. (Recipe: http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/recipe_views/views/231145 )

Also, braised Indian-type dishes take a long time to cook and are so much the better for it. I don't trust any "curry" recipe that takes less than three hours! If you like hot food, there's a great, step-by-step, very authentic pork vindaloo recipe here: http://forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=69386&st=0 . I do cheat sometimes by making the spice rub, putting it all over the pork with the sauce, then leaving it in a slow cooker for ten hours on low. Different end texture, but just as good, and you get the endorphin rush of hot and spicy food - very good for dining alone, methinks. I like to eat it with hot Indian bread, spicy pickle, and whole milk yogurt on the side with something very, very sweet for dessert.

And when I do make dessert for myself I try to make individual portioned things - they seem special, somehow - plus they keep me from eating a whole batch of cookies and feeling like crap later. I like a rich panna cotta with a sauce, or hot bread pudding with a crunchy flamed sugar topping, a la creme brulee, or a fruit cobbler made in an individual dish. Epicurious, again, has some good little features on dinner for one, and the desserts in particular were helpfully inspiring: http://www.epicurious.com/cooking/everyday/dinner_for_one/

Have a wonderful Valentine's Day and birthday - I hope that they are special in some way that you don't expect...

Lisa,

There's an amazing chicken soup I always make for myself when I'm upset about something, and I actually just blogged about it this morning before I read your question on Apartment Therapy! It's the purest, simplest, healthiest chicken soup there is; my mom always used to make it for me when i was sick or sad. That said, don't worry - breakups are the worst, but life is long and exciting (and, most importantly, delicious!). So have your soup and eat birthday cake too. Because you deserve it!

(For the soup recipe, click on my name and check out the most recent post on my blog Pie in the Sky.)

Thank you Guido, the Green's Bresse Mushroom Soup on my site is very comforting. :) I have to say that the Italian Escarole Soup looks like it would cheer me up too.

Lisa, I think soup is always a good way to take care of yourself. Won ton soup helps me when I'm feeling down. And having some good friends around to remind you how marvelous you are is essential.

sour dough starter. The Angelica cookbook has this incredible two week process using grapes to get it started. You need to feed it regularily (which is a great excuse to be home). Once it is started, you can give pieces to friends -- which is a great excuse to see people!

hi lisa, i would say to take all of this wonderful advice and then have a friend(s) over for dinner on sunday night. there's something really nice about ending the weekend and beginning a new week surrounded by great food, wine, and friends.

Hey Lisa,
I recommend trying something different, a new cuisine might open up a whole new avenue that you never considered before (an optimistic pov for your personal life too)!

I recommend pumpkin soup (Jamaican style).
- A quarter West Indian Pumpkin (alot of stores call it calabaza)
- 2 stalks green onion
- 2/3 spring dried or fresh thyme
- black pepper and salt to taste
- 1/2 cubes of beef/chicken/vegetable boullion (I prefer beef)
- jamaican scotch bonnet pepper
- skinned chicken pieces cut into bite size pieces (optional)
- sliced peeled potatoes (I prefer red)
- sliced carrots

1. Peel, boil and puree the pumpkin.
2. Add the boullion cubes dissolved in about 1 cup hot water, the spices, herbs and the chicken and simmer until chicken cooked through.
3. Add potatoes and carrots and continue to simmer until potatoes are cooked through and the soup has desired consistency
4. Add additional salt and pepper to taste

Enjoy!

sorry to play devil's advocate. but maybe you should do a one-day fast!
seriously, if you think you might be moping even as the chicken soup is simmering, why not use the day to focus on new beginnings... a fast has symbolic power....a cleansing.

just an idea. good luck

hey all. thank you so much for your many ideas and thoughts; classic kitchenette support. i'm into all of the thoughts, including the fast. any way you recommend conducting a fast? i know there are many schools of thought, and i've always thought winter was a good time for such endeavors.