Every other Sunday, my grandmother made gnocchi for the whole family. We would gather around the table for lunch, and her homemade gnocchi were always part of the occasion. They were never perfectly uniform: some were larger, some smaller, and many had wonderfully uneven shapes. But that was part of what made them special. Those imperfect little potato balls are among my sweetest memories of her. Even now, whenever I make gnocchi, I think of her and find myself trying to recr