This recipe for red wine vinegar turns ordinary vinegar into a tasty gift.

I always enjoy spending time in the kitchen making goodies to give as homemade holiday gifts, but in previous years I was reluctant to try my hand at making red wine vinegar.

I’d read about the months’ long process that requires an earthenware crock and a live starter called a “mother.” And I’d heard that a good mother is often handed down from a friend or relative like a treasured heirloom.

Vinegar is the result of the chemical reaction between the mother bacteria and the wine.

For those without a mother, the bacteria culture can be found at stores selling wine making supplies.

I didn’t want to wait the 2-3 months of time needed for a slow fermentation process. I had to find a faster way to create vin aigre (sour wine). The quickest option was to add red wine to white vinegar, but that wasn’t my style.

Homegrown jalapeño chile peppers and coriander mix with vinegar, ginger, sugars and spices to make a festive gift for the holidays.

The magazines that clutter my desk from October through December are loaded with recipes for cookies, candy and sweet holiday treats that look irresistibly delicious. But I’m always on the lookout for ways I can use goodies from my garden to create savory treats, too.

One of my favorite gifts to grow, make and give is a jar of spicy pickled grapes. The red and green grapes fit the colors of the season and the recipe lets me use some of my garden-grown jalapeño peppers and coriander seeds. It’s an added bonus if you grow your own grapes, too.

Jalapeño chile peppers are easy to grow and are an essential ingredient for flavoring Mexican food dishes and are used to add some heat to Thai and Chinese recipes, too.

Bitters is a combination of fruits, herbs and spices steeped in alcohol and used to add a finishing touch to cocktails and aperitifs. If you start with a few simple ingredients now, your homemade bitters will be ready to bottle and give as delicious gifts for the holidays.

In the November issue of 5280 Magazine, there’s a Behind the Bar article  about some fine dining establishments in the Denver area that are mixing up their own house-made bitters.

At Frasca Food & Wine in Boulder, the bar manager adds cardamon, orange peel, star anise and cloves to 90-proof whiskey for his take on a bitters concotion popular in the 19th Century.

You don’t have to be an expert mixologist to whip up your own creation. Homemade bitters are easy to make from common ingredients you might already have in the kitchen pantry.