Twelve retired friends gathered Friday for their annual Christmas cookie exchange in Waverley, N.S. A cookie swap is not an uncommon occurrence this time of year, but what makes this exchange unique is the friends have no background in baking and there’s a competitive edge.
The 12 men call themselves the Romeos – retired old men eating out. Every second Friday, they gather for lunch at the Waverley Legion.
A few years ago, Don Penwell came up with idea for a Christmas Cookie Challenge - a baking competition with some pretty strict guidelines.
“The men aren't allowed to have their spouses help, they have to do all the baking themselves, they're not allowed to use frozen cookie dough, and presentation counts for so many points,” says Penwell.
It may sound like an easy task for the average baker, but until this tradition began none of the men had ever picked up a rolling pin or cookie cutter.
“Now that I'm retired, there's going to be more time to fool around in the kitchen for sure,” says Bob Johnson.
“I just do the cookies, I'm not a baker,” says Gerard Doyle. I'll leave that too my wife.”
While they couldn’t turn to their wives for help, the men found baking tips and tricks other places.
“You can get online and get a lot of information from either pin...Pinterest I guess it is, or Google something, there's a lot of information out there,” says Jack Henman.
“It's science basically and it's a lot of fun for when you're retired, it's something to do,” says Penwell.
This is the third year for the cookie exchange and every year their baking gets better and so does the competition. The men made a variety of cookies, including pumpkin spice, peanut butter, and gingerbread.
On the day of the exchange they gather and present their baked goods. A member from the legion judges the cookies based on taste and presentation and selects a winner. However the real winners are the lucky friends and family who get to feast on the festive treats.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Suzette Belliveau
