The title is inspired by the fact that a deer crossed my yard just as I sat down to write, and by the headliner — if headliner is the word I want — at a strip club not far from somewhere I used to live:…

I love gnocci, me. Mine isn’t very pretty, but it’s good. It’s good when it’s hot, anyway. I made some for Christmas Day but, by the time it was transported to where the party was and waited until all the other food was ready, it…