Before the advice, let's look at the price.

The cost of the typical Thanksgiving meal is up a bit from last year, but when you consider how much food prices have gone up recently, the spike is modest.

The American Farm Bureau Federation had shoppers buy all the ingredients needed to serve ten people at home. It puts the average cost at $44.61 this year. That's up $2.35 from last year.

Most of that increase is due to the cost of the turkey, which is up 9 cents to about $1.19 per pound.

For this survey, the shoppers did not take advantage of special promotions. So you may be able to buy your turkey for a lot less.

I did a quick search online and found Safeway has fresh birds for 99 cents a pound, and frozen birds for as little as 29 cents. And if you spend $150 at a Fred Meyer store, you could get a turkey for free!

OK. Now to the test kitchen at Good Housekeeping Magazine where the cooking pros have some secrets to share.

Here's a recipe for creamy Yukon mashed potatoes. It's so tasty no one will know it's low in fat.

"They have an extra creamy texture, no more fat than regular potatoes and then (we) add a smaller amount of butter to make a delicious, ranch-style mashed potato," said Susan Westmoreland of Good Housekeeping. "It's a good idea to heat the buttermilk because it will blend more easily with the potatoes as you're mashing them."

Westmoreland also has a great alternate for people who have a gluten allergy and can't eat bread stuffing.

"Basically, I'm starting with all the veggies that i would for stuffing: carrots, onion, celery and some mushrooms, and I'm going to cook those up. But instead of tossing it with bread, I'm going to add rice and then cook it as you would normally cook rice, just covered for twenty minutes," she said.

Westmoreland says if you are using chicken broth, make sure the kind you use doesn't have hydrolyzed wheat, protein or any other wheat ingredient.

And Westmoreland has a secret for getting good gravy on the table.

First, take two chicken wings and brown them beautifully. Then you're going to add classic root vegetables that you would for broth and brown those, too.

Add some wine and some chicken broth. Then strain the liquid and thicken it with flour to get your gravy base.

When your turkey's done from the oven, just take the drippings from that pan and add them to the gravy that's already made and lump-free.

Here's another tip from Good Housekeeping: you can bake an apple pie, pecan pie or pumpkin pie in advance, then store it in the freezer until you need it. Most pies other than custard or cream pies freeze pretty well.

More information:

Good Housekeeping: Countdown to Thanksgiving

Good Housekeeping: Top 10 Turkey Questions

Good Housekeeping: Turkey Recipes

USDA: Let's Talk Turkey