Things to be thankful for now that we’re doing Thanksgiving back in the U.S:
Jiffy corn bread mix. In looking up my recipes from last year’s Thanksgiving, I did a double take when I found a recipe specifically to make cornbread, which would then be used to make stuffing. Haha. Man, who did I think I was?
Pumpkin pie in a can. See corn bread mix. Plus, the pie with mix came out a thousand times better than the pies I’ve had to make by roasting pumpkins, purity and freshness be damned.
Pre-made pie crust. See above. Though I did love my Spekulatius-centered work-around for a graham crackery-type crust.
Cars. This year I can get my 5 lbs each of apples, sweet potatoes, and regular potatoes home in one trip, thank you very much.
Turkeys. One full-size turkey coming right up, at any local grocery store you can imagine. And hopefully I will not need to defrost it in a laundry basket filled with water (double “Thanksgiving in Germany/first Thanksgiving cooking a turkey by myself” whammy).
However, there is a lot that I will miss this year – namely, sharing Thanksgiving with a group of people who have never had it before. Over the two years that we held Thanksgiving in Bielefeld, we got to introduce our totally delicious (and sappy-but-not-too-sappy) holiday to friends from all different countries, all of whom (I think) loved it. Not only will I miss hanging out with them, but I’ll miss the chance to spread some good U.S.-related fun around. A good rule for Americans and for life – always bring food. Sweet potato pie, if possible.
Wie sagt man...? 
Definitely agree – one of the best parts about Thanksgiving abroad is getting to share it with your non-American friends. This year, I kept it small – just my boyfriend’s family!
Hope they enjoyed it and that you were able to find the foods you needed! I do love that no matter what you serve or who you serve it to, the takeaway American lesson is to eat as much as humanly possible 🙂
I was able to celebrate in the US – thanks to a well positioned work trip – for the first time in 7 years. Ate way too much!
How lucky that you got to be back in the country for it! Sharing it with people from other countries is fun in its own way, but there’s something irreplaceable about celebrating these familiar holidays along with everyone else 🙂 Safe travels!