Thanksgiving could be much easier on you this year, thanks to three new innovative tools for tackling that home-cooked turkey. Food pros from The Good Housekeeping Institute have some good ideas.

If youve ever tried holding a turkey's legs together and tying them with string, you know how hard it can be. But The Food Loop can help.

The FoodLoop is a silicone trussing tool that comes in particularly handy when youre trying to tie the legs of a turkey together," says Sharon Franke, Food Appliance Director, Good Housekeeping Institute. "One end slips through the other so you can easily pull it taut with one hand. And you dont have to struggle to tie a bow. And when its time to remove it, its easy to see because its bright pink. It doesnt become brown like a piece of twine.

Now, for getting that big boy in and out of the oven, check out the nonstick Roast and Serve rack from Cuisipro. It can hold a turkey up to 25 pounds and has handles to make lifting the bird in and out of the roasting pan very easy.

The real innovation with the Roast and Serve comes after the turkeys done," says Franke. "You can lift the rack out of the roasting pan using the handles and place the bird and the rack right on your serving platter or on a carving board. Then you pull out the center pin and the rack splits in half. You can pull the two sides away and your turkey is left sitting in splendor on your serving platter.

A long handled, silicone brush from Grill Friends makes basting the bird much easier. The Good Housekeeping Institute recommends silicone because the bristles dont fizzle when they hit the hot drippings in the roasting pan.

By the way, if you're wondering how big a turkey you need, Good Housekeeping says that you should figure on one pound of uncooked turkey per person. That'll give you enough meat for dinner and leftovers the next day.

For more tips on helpful kitchen gadgets, check out the November issue of Good Housekeeping or visit www.goodhousekeeping.com.