For some reason, specialty Thanksgiving platters and serveware tend to be rather cheesy, with little pictures of pilgrims or cornucopias adorning them in the worst examples and an overly rustic look on the slightly more stylish side of things. Thankfully, there are at least a few good-looking serving implements out there, like these Chromed Turkey Lifters, which are simple, functional and attractive. They are made out of chrome-plated zinc and measure 4"x9.5". They will give you the support needed to lift even heavy turkey from the roasting plan to a serving platter, then can also be used to serve the individual slices to guests. Price: $18.

The New York Times taste tested several different kinds of turkeys, from the standard supermarket Butterball to more exotic heritage bred birds to find out which ones were worthy of your table. The concluded that good cooking can make almost any turkey acceptable, but the clear winners of the test were the Bourbon Red and an American Bronze heritage birds, the organic bird and the domesticated wild turkey. If you want to serve a clear winner on Thanksgiving here is where to get them:

• Heritage Farms - They have organic heritage turkeys and you can get a 20-lb bird for about $200. They're almost sold out, though, so you might want to order now.
• Dartagnan - You'll find organic turkeys here and can get a 18-20-lb one for $130. They also carry smaller heritage birds (10-12-lb) for about $116.
• Griggstown - They carry free-range tradition turkeys at $113 for 18-20-lb birds, as well as Red Bourbon heritage turkeys (12-15-lbs for $150)