Editor’s note:This is the third in a series of stories about local women pushing the envelope of home cooking.

Kathleen Boléyn, owner of Enchanted Strings, is a professional harpist who happens to serve afternoon tea at the concerts she gives in her home. She has played the harp for 25 years, and performed with the Pikes Peak Philharmonic, at weddings and other events. She also is a teatime aficionado.

“I’m not a connoisseur of teas but I’m great at providing a tea experience,” she said. “I do my best to make everything perfect. When I’m preparing the food I tell myself that taste is everything. When I decorate, atmosphere is everything. When I greet and coordinate the courses and get hot tea to the table, service is everything. When I play the harp, the music is everything.”

When you arrive at her home with a white picket fence, there’s a music stand decorated with flowers next to the front door – a harbinger of the experience which awaits. Boléyn, dressed in a long flowing Victorian gown and feather festooned hat, swings open the door with a gracious flourish. Then, you enter the charm of her Victorian-decorated living room. The elaborate full-size gold embossed harp is center stage.

Before meeting the other guests, Boléyn guides you through the selection of a hat from the table next to the front door. She fusses and checks you to be sure the bonnet that has caught your eye is the correct fit for you. Once everyone is settled, Boléyn serves the first course of her tea. It might be a small bowl of soup or in the case of a recent gathering, a goblet of fresh fruit.

“I have a secret ingredient in the fruit cup today,” she said. “See if you can guess what it is.”

Some thought it might be liquor, but no one guessed olive oil.

“It’s lemon-infused olive oil,” she said. “I found it at the Olive Tap (in Manitou Springs). They suggested using it on fresh fruit and thought that was such a great idea. Plus, it makes the fruit so glossy.”

As you dine and chat Boléyn plays the harp. When you’ve finished a course, you ring a bell and she prepares to serve the next course. It makes for a very relaxing, delicious couple of hours. The finishing touch is the fact that Boléyn serves the tea and all the accoutrements on hand-painted porcelain that she made.

“I went to a Christmas tea at Kathleen’s home,” Jenny Butts said. “I love doing tea very much and this experience was excellent and so social. We all picked out hats before she served us tea. The food was very tasty. Just enough. And then we listened to her music. Kathleen is just amazing. She writes poems and recites them at tea too.”

Boléyn is Janiece Carlson’s go-to for special occasion parties.

“I’ve been to 13 or 15 teas at Kathleen’s home because it’s so good,” she said. “She takes you back in time and plays the harp like an angel. The last time I was there I took an 85-year-old friend for her birthday. My friend had never had a birthday party before and Kathleen made it so very special. I recommend her teatimes all the time.”

Boléyn makes notes about each of her teas including who has attended and the menu she has prepared.

“I always want to be sure that I don’t repeat a menu for the same person,” she said. “I want your tea experience to be different each time.”

Not only does Boléyn play the harp, prepare the food and paint the china she is also an avid gardener who insists on having fresh flowers at all her tea parties.

BASIC SCONESYield: 6 servings

2 cups flour2 teaspoons baking powder1/8 teaspoon salt1/4 cup sugar1/3 cup unsalted butter1/2 cup dried cherries (or raisins or currants)1/2 cup cream or half-and-half1 egg1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla (or other extract of choice)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.Combine dry ingredients. Work in butter with fingers. Add dried fruit. Combine cream, egg and vanilla. Add all at once to flour mixture and combine lightly.Turn out onto floured work surface and gently shape into disk about 1/2 inch thick. Cut with floured 2-inch biscuit cutter and place on greased cookie sheet. May brush with beaten egg and/or sugar. Bake until lightly browned, about 14 minutes. Slide onto rack.Serve warm with unsalted butter, jam and/or clotted cream.Source: Kathleen Boléyn

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Contact Teresa J. Farney at 636-0271, Twitter @tffoodie, Facebook Teresa Farney