I would let it set a bit..certainly would not put veggies in until it cools. Merry Christmas....it is always fun to make something from memories of yesteryear..

You can do a quick set by adding ice cubes instead of cold water after you have stirred the Jello in the hot water. That way it will set much faster and you can stir in the carrots and cabbage earlier.

schoolhouse, if added to still warm no-set-has-begun jello, your vegetables would likely either float, or sink ( haven't made a jello other than plain in enough years I can't remember which cabbage will do), and not be distributed evenly throughout your salad. If that doesn't matter to you and you don't mind the layered look, add them sooner but after your dissolved jello has cooled a bit so you don't take the 'crisp' out of your cabbage ;)

That sounds a lot like my mother's cole slaw mold, which has shredded cabbage, carrots, scallions, green peppers, TBSP of vinegar, plus 2:1 mayo to sour cream.

The directions are to let the Jell-o cool but not set so it won't curdle (and if you're making double, use lemon for the second box of Jell-o). "Whip" in the mayonnaise and sour cream so that it will be smoothly combined. Then stir in the vegetables--squeeze out the excess water first.

Oh phyllis! sounds like something I might do. I've made plain jello in fancy vintage molds before and turned it out too early to get a nice watery mess on the plate. No jiggle, just slosh. But I've had good luck other times too.

plllog -Your recipe is alot like one I printed off. But I'll probably go super simple with just the carrot/cabbage.More often than not the recipe I found online also included pineapple but I never saw that before, even celery and onion. Mom said she did add a bit of vinegar to hers.

Ok, I'll add veggies after jello sets a bit. I figured that was the best way to go.

As far as mayo (or sour cream), I think she used that as a dressing over a serving. I found a simple recipe for that.

Would I be able to make the perfection jello salad today, keep it in the mold until Friday morning? is that too long in the mold? will it be more difficult to turn out, will the jello get rubbery before it can be served?