Holy Garlic Overload Batman...

Back away from your computer screen! Please, back away! I fear my garlic aura might be so strong that it has permeated cyberspace and you could possibly faint from my stench. While I fear for those deep breathers around me, I have to admit- it was totally worth it!

Welcome to the week of sauces! I've been pounding out GDL sauces all week. It all started when the basil in my Aero Garden was about ready to get up and walk away- it was huge. Big, beautiful basil leaves just begging to be pesto-tized!

GDL's Basil Pesto was a simple recipe I've used before. Basil leaves, pine nuts, garlic, olive oil and Parmesan get combined and slathered over pasta. In my case I used some gorgeous ravioli from Whole Foods and the pesto diluted with a spoonful of pasta water was absolutely divine.

I woke up in the middle of the night with garlic still on my palate but since I was sleeping alone that night, I wasn't offending anyone. And I could only hope those double tooth brushings and five Listerine gargles would keep my coworkers from scattering.

The next day I basically repeated the pesto-process but this time with arugula leaves creating GDL's Arugula Pesto. Picture the same process but with crispy arugula leaves rather than basil. Another garlic fest but this time with an interesting tangy-ness to it. An interesting alternative when you happen to be sans basil leaves.

And then last night GDL's Spicy Tomato Sauce was on the agenda. Another simple recipe involving canned crushed tomatoes, onions, capers, garlic (less potent this time) and red pepper flakes. I doubled (maybe tripled) the amount of pepper flakes fearing my spicy connoisseur aka Jared. I brace myself whenever I serve him anything that Giada deems "spicy" just waiting for the inevitable response of "it's not spicy, did you use the wussy organic red pepper flakes?"

Anyways, I think it's kinda spicy but the critic has yet to sample.