Glass jars There is a kind of tradition in Russia. In the end of our short summer we start to preserve fruits and vegetables. There are a few main preserved dishes in modern Russian cuisine. We make them in different ways, but all of them are usually kept in glass jars. Sometimes people make plenty of the preserves and eat them during winter. One of the way to preserve vegetables is pickling. The most popular Russian pickled vegetables are cucumbers, but you may pickle any vegetables you want. Recently I found out a good proportion of vinegar for pickle: 1 part of 6% apple vinegar to 3 parts of water. For every ane and a half cup (375 ml) of water put a tablespoon of surag and a teaspoon of salt. Usually, we put some spices on the bottom of the jar. The most popular are allspice, dill, cloves and bay leaf. Pickled cucumbers are one of the most popular snack for vodka. The second way is fermentation. I don't know how to ferment any vegetables. The most popular fermented vegatable is cabbage. It is a simbol of the Russian cuisine. Using the sour cabbage we can cook another important Russian dish - sour shchi. But we don't ferment only cabbage. The most unusual fermented thing in Russia I've ever heard is a watermelon. I've never eat it, but I know, that in the birthplace of my grandfather, in the south of Russia, it is a common dish. The third method of conservation is boiling in sugar, in other words making jam. The best way to save jam is using 1 to 1 proportion of fruits and sugar. But if you don't want to save it for whole winter and intend to eat it during short time, you can use less sugar. When I was a child, I wasn't a big fan of conservated vegetables. When I was young, I hate it. I thought that it is some kind of village habit. Could I imagine in the time, that ten years later I would do it by myself =) Today I cooked pickled cabbage with Chinese spices (Ginger, star anise, cloves) and apricot jam. When I was a child I liked jam, but now I think it is too sweet. But I like apricot jam anyway =)