Separate the cloves from the heads of the garlic.  Crush the cloves with the flat blade of a knife.  Slip the skins from the garlic cloves.

Using a chef’s knife, finely slice the cloves of garlic to make them easier to work with.  Place the garlic slices into the bottom of a wide mouth mason jar.

Using a stick blender with the blade attachment, mince the garlic in the bottom of the jar until it is well crushed.  This will take about 10 seconds.

With the stick blender turned on low, in the bottom of the jar, drizzle the olive oil one tablespoon at a time beside the stick blender, so that the oil enters the vortex of the stick blender.  Continue to add the olive oil slowly.

The olive oil will lighten in color and become more opaque as the emusion forms.  Once all the olive oil has been added and the mixture is thick and pale in color, add salt, if you are using it and continue blending for 30 seconds.

Unplug  the stick blender and clean the business end with a spatula to move all the garlicky goodness to your jar.

Cap the jar and refrigerate.  Allow the flavors to meld for 30 minutes before using the aioli in your recipe.  Melding the flavors over night is even more tasty.  Some chefs say the flavor on day 3 or 4 is perfect.