Yes, I realize I am nearly a week behind showing up here to wish everyone a Happy New Year.  Please, let me explain.  Christmas was fun and beautiful and filled with family and lots of food.  As we gathered together on Christmas Eve, I spent a moment taking stock of the beauty that surrounded me.  There were nearly 30 of us that gathered at my brother’s home and we celebrated well into the night, making it difficult for Santa to find just the right opportunity to drop in.  Fortunately, our children aren’t little anymore and so Christmas morning at my sister’s house took place closer to noon than those crazy morning hours of years gone by.  Following an extended gift opening session which always includes Becky’s hot chocolate to tide our stomachs over, we finally nourished ourselves with a mid-afternoon breakfast.  We never rush gift opening.  There are laughs galore, and usually a surprise – or joke – to be had.  Naps were in order before it all started again.

The dinner menu on Christmas Eve occasionally changes, but more often than not, we serve a traditional Hanukkah meal.  Confusing, right?  Allow me to explain.  One season, many years ago, it turned out that Hanukkah fell right alongside the Christmas holiday.  I brought our Menorah with us, wrapped eight gifts for my daughter and each of my nephews, (I always stay with my sister during the holidays) and blended in as many Hanukkah traditions as I could right along with our Christmas celebration.  I made a beef brisket, fried dozens of potato latkes and made the requisite applesauce.  We lit candles while reciting the Hanukkah blessing.  The kids got a real kick out of learning about Hanukkah and the adults savored every bite of the latkes and brisket.  The next year, even though Christmas and Hanukkah did not fall together, the meal request was for, you guessed it, latkes and brisket.  And this year was no different.
The absolute best part of our holiday was that my Mom was there throughout all the festivities.  She is a trooper.  It gets loud, really loud – and crazy, really crazy – at some of our get-togethers.  Mom hangs in there!  I remember a moment on Christmas Eve, as the paper was flying, and children (and adults) were squealing, all in the glow of the Christmas tree lights – I remember looking over at my Mom and thinking what an utterly awesome and satisfying feeling she must have been experiencing in the mist of all that surrounded her.
Then – right out of nowhere – the black shadow of viral germs that had been lurking reared its ugly head.   Grateful that it postponed its siege until the celebrations had ended – the FLU monster hit the morning after Christmas had passed.  Everything from there on came to a screeching halt.  First I fell ill, then H.  I made it home to my own bed before the worst of it hit.  There was no more partying, no ringing in the New Year with whistle blowers and champagne.  There were endless boxes of Kleenex, lots of Advil, thermometers, and sleep.  That is all I did for days and days.  Then, last Thursday, the clouds parted, and the sun came out.  I went to the cliffs and took a walk for the first time in weeks.  I went to the market.  How bright, and colorful, and inviting produce can look following the flu.  Later that evening, I dozed off for a little nap.  Upon awakening I had the distinct feeling that my throat felt swollen and unusual.  By the next morning, blisters told a story I didn’t want to believe.  And hours later, a throat swab (I hate those things) confirmed my fear.  Strep Throat!  Could this be happening?  Back into PJs, back on the sofa, antibiotics, and more isolation.  Fortunately, I did not have a bad case at all.  I have never had strep throat but I had certainly heard all the horror stories.  I’m happy to report that I am back with the living and even went out to the movies last night – yay!  BTW, if you haven’t seen Les Miserables yet – you must!
So, I am sorry for the absence from my pages here.  I have missed baking and photographing, and writing to all of you.  I missed wishing each and everyone of you a Very Happy New Year!  I hope it brings everyone good health, joy, and at least one dream come true.  And while I was not able to post on my own blog, I continued to read many others.  As always, I was entertained, enlightened, and inspired.  Taking a break gave me the opportunity to assess my own blog – this space where I put myself out there to all of you.  I was able to take a step back and contemplate where I have come thus far, and where it is I want to head in the coming year.  This blog is still a baby – not even a year old as yet.  One thing I realized while taking inventory of my experiences as a blogger is that it is far too easy to loose sight of why I do this.  I admit that I have gotten caught up in the “competition” of it all.  Far too frequently I check my stats to see how I am doing?  Any new followers?  Has my traffic increased?  Admittedly, the competition is of my own creation.  I have too often fallen prey to that dangerous “perfectionist” bug.  I look around the blogosphere and witness such beautiful and creative places, and I immediately want to compare myself to them.  In moments of self-awareness, I center myself and remind myself that I began this blog to share my baking knowledge and experiences with anyone who might find it of interest.  It is a place to document my successes and failures; my accomplishments and my discoveries.   Instead, it was becoming a pressure filled space where I questioned everything I posted.  Was it worthy of a post?  Are the photos professional enough?  Was my writing of interest to anyone?
As of now, I have rededicated myself to the reason I began SiftingFocus.  My greatest desire is to inspire others to bake.  If you were in my kitchen right now, I would tell you to throw all caution to the wind and jump into the flour with both hands.  I would tell you to try new things and challenge your abilities.  I would tell you of the joy that can come from mixing a few meager ingredients like flour, butter, sugar, and eggs, and creating something so tasty in the process.  I would tell you that a crust will taste just as good even if it cracks and splits on its way into the pie dish.  And I would tell you that if you close your eyes before taking a bite of that chocolate cake you made, it would taste just as delicious whether it was frosted picture perfect or not.  I have spoken of perfectionism on this blog before and what a trap it sets.  Perfectionism is self-imposed and so it is only us that can free ourselves from its shackles.  And that is what I intend to do.  I want to bake for enjoyment, photograph for creative pleasure, and write in order to share a part of myself with all of you.  Most of all, I want to challenge myself.  Although I have been baking for decades, there is so much I have never attempted but very much want to try.  Authentic is the word for 2013.  You will see some messes alongside the successes.  There will be pictures that tell the truth as to what a beginner I am behind the lens.  And my words, well, they will always be from the heart even when grammar and vocabulary aren’t quite up to snuff.

Ahhh, how relieved I feel to get that monkey off my back.  It feels wonderful just to “be” me again.
Now, for this first recipe of 2013.  Santa was very good to me this year in the area of cookbooks.  I was gifted with four from my wish list – in addition to a couple I bought for myself.  I could spend weeks baking just from these books.  You will be seeing some of their offerings over the coming weeks as I plan to make at least several recipes from each.  For now, this recipe struck my fancy.  In all my years of making and frosting cakes, I have never made 7-Minute Frosting.  First challenge of 2013 – and I am happy to report that it was easy and interesting.  It is definitely the perfect topping for this particular cake.  I am being completely honest when I tell you that “New Year’s Healthy Resolutions” never came into mind for a second when choosing this cake.  However, once I launched into it, I realized that it has no butter at all, and in fact, is a pretty “healthy” and light cake – save the dulce de leche.  This recipe makes for a sweet and delicate celebration cake.  J thought it was “outrageous” but H thought the frosting a bit boring.  (What does he know?)
Footnote:  I had to laugh!  I was just going back through some of my old posts and found this cake.   A  7-Minute Frosting by any other name is still a 7-Minute Frosting.  So, in fact, I have made a similar frosting before.  I guess I am just further down this road than a thought!

Source:  Adapted from William Sonoma’s Home Baked Comfort by Kim Laidlaw