There’s one particular person who’ll always have that special place in my heart no matter where life takes me. That person is my mom. My mom is not only my best friend but also one of my favorite lunch buddies. Today I spent some time shopping with her as well as having a post Valentine’s Day lunch at California Pizza Kitchen.

Our lunch started off with some complimentary fresh baked sourdough bread with a dipping sauce of olive oil and herbs.

Up next was our appetizer dish of chicken lettuce wraps. (It’s my second time this week having lettuce wraps as those who read my Valentine’s Day post yesterday know. 😉 ) Similar to the lettuce wraps, I had yesterday the CPK lettuce wraps had fresh shiitake mushrooms. It also had water nut chestnuts, scallions and rice noodles. The sauce for the lettuce wraps is a ginger soy sauce. The taste of ginger in the sauce is very distinct and also slightly spicy.

My mom and I chose two entrees for our lunch. Our first entree was the Thai Crunch salad. This salad has crisp veggies, cilantro and chicken for it’s main ingredients. The crunch comes from the peanuts, wonton strips and rice noodles that are spread throughout the salad. The dressing is a slightly spicy Thai peanut dressing. This salad was my favorite out of all the times we tried today. I liked how the cilantro, the spicy dressing and the peanuts all came together to bring a burst of flavor to this salad. I was also fond of the overall crisp and crunch in the salad.

Our second entree was CPK’s Original BBQ Chicken Pizza. With the sweet BBQ sauce, the tender pieces of chicken, the smoked Gouda, red onions and cilantro, this pizza never disappoints. Freshly baked and served hot from their ovens, the pizza was great.

For a sweet ending to our meal, we had a slice of key lime pie. In the past year or so, I’ve noticed key lime pie becoming one of the more popular dessert dishes in the food world. I was curious to try out CPK’s version. The main pie itself was creamy and smooth. The base was a crisp graham cracker crust. The key lime pie overall had a deliciously sweet and tart taste.

It was a nice lunch today and I really enjoyed bonding with my mom. Valentine’s Day and the month of February is all about love and moms are the first ones in all of our lives who give us love, teach us about love and show us all what unconditional love is. Mom = love and I loved spending a time with her today.