Forgotten Cookies

My mom was not known for her cooking or rather known for her good cooking. She is more "infamous" in that area. I was thinking about this because I am about to make her "forgotten" cookies.
A little background....Our family joke is that Mom's recipe for pork chops is this: heat the oven and cook the chops until they curl and then serve with apple sauce to rehydrate! When we were first married, my Mom would invite my husband and I over for dinner . We went once and then every other time Mark would insist on taking her out to a "nice steak" dinner. Mom always that it was just so nice and thoughtful of Mark...little did she know that Mark just couldn't stand her cooking!
There were a couple of things that Mom did do great. One, was my Grandmother's fudge. Everyone loved it and it really was great. She taught my daughter to make it, too.
The other item was her "Forgotten" cookies. These are basic meringues...whipped egg whites and sugar left in the oven over night, hence "Forgotten" cookies. For the last 15 or 20 years, she made a couple batches for every holiday because everyone loved them. When my nephew, who really loved the cookies, went into the Air Force, Mom would make an extra batch for Cathy to send to him. She so enjoyed the feeling of making people happy. She made these cookies with a broken oven but that just didn't seem to matter.
While she was in the hospital this past Thanksgiving, I felt a desire to try and make a batch for the holidays...it just seemed the right thing to do. I looked for her recipes and I found two...both with the same ingredients but with different measurements. I picked the bigger recipe because she always made so much. Boy, did I fail!!! They were either gummy and sticky or the wrong color...yech, they were just awful. I told her what had happened and she gave me some pointers but I think she was happy that she still held the secret to make the best Forgotten cookies.
Just like her, I won't give up....I am going to make them again this week but this time they'll be great! I've learned her secret ingredients: love and patience!