I don't have a sifter.
I've been watching Alton Brown (really like him, so much better than the rest of the show-offs) and he said to skip the sifter. Said we should weigh the flour (he's very big on weighing!) and then put the stuff in the food processor to sift it.
Running it through the FP does make it poofier, but it loses some of the poof when it's transferred.
Any thoughts on FP versus real sifting? (Should I get a sifter?)
You can use a sieve instead of a sifter. If you start to do a lot of baking, you will know when it's time to get a sifter.
Since you like whisking, why not just whisk instead of using the food processor. Unless you are going to use the FP for some other part of the recipe and get it dirty anyway, the whisk will be much less clean up.
I really like Alton Brown too, but he isn't always right, just most of the time.
BTW, Welcome to DC.