ImageSam Sifton’s baked potatoes.Credit...Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Spencer Richards.

Good morning. I drove through Captree in the high winter sun, over the inlet bridge between the island and Robert Moses State Park, toward the glittering Atlantic, the beach covered in snow. It was a Sunday like this one, my thoughts meandering through dinner plans as they so often do, weighing options against options, looking for that little charge that says, suddenly: Yes, that will do nicely. That will make for a very nice meal.

I saw a rabbit on the side of the road, small and oval above plowed snow, and its shape set my course for the rest of the day. I’d make baked potatoes (above) for dinner with a whole fixins bar beside them — warm little satchels of starch to adorn however the family desires. I swung around the water tower at the base of the bridge and pushed north again, toward home. Thanks, Rabbit. (Seriously, this is how it works for me.)

Such a scenario would represent a notable degree of ticket-splitting, perpetuating a trend captured by surveys throughout this election cycle. Democratic Senate candidates in a number of swing states, including Arizona and Nevada, have consistently polled ahead of the top of the ticket,x777 casino especially when President Biden was the party’s standard-bearer. As Ms. Harris’s nomination has made the election more competitive, the gap between her and those down-ballot Democrats has narrowed — but the trend persists in most races in swing states.

You can get quite particular with baked potatoes. I make some to recall a dish the chef Mark Ladner used to make with pasta at Del Posto in New York, with crab, jalapeño and mint. I like a twice-baked situation, with cauliflower and cheese. I love a totally loaded sweet potato, with butter and sour cream, with chives and crumbled bacon, with Cheddar. And I desire, always, a plain baked potato with sour cream and caviar, though I acknowledge the recklessness of that expense so close to tax season.

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Baked Potatoes

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Whichever, let’s make it baked potatoes for dinner, and then we can turn to the rest of the week. …

Monday

Ali Slagle’s recipe for lemon-garlic linguine is an excellent weeknight meal on its own, and a stunning one if you decide to add seared scallops or shrimp. The sauce is creamy and thick, so don’t forget to add the hit of lemon juice at the end to keep everything punchy and bright.

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