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You may love her.  You may hate her.  Either way, Gwyneth Paltrow doesn’t care.  She’s worked hard for everything she’s earned (awesome rocker hubby Chris Martin included), and she’s not afraid to enjoy it.  Popeater sat down with the Oscar winner to learn more about her new cookbook, My Father’s Daughter and those pesky Matthew Morrison rumors.

PHOTOS: Gwyneth Paltrow Promotes Her Cookbook In New York City

Paltrow, spotted signing copies of the book at a Barnes & Noble in New York last night, got into cooking when she was in Santa Barbara for college.  She and her late father, Bruce Paltrow, would talk over the phone about recipes they saw on the Food Network:

“I was going to college in Santa Barbara and coming back into LA a lot and we started cooking together and got super into it. We would watch the Food Network together or call each other, ‘Oh I learned something so cool,’ because we were starting really from the beginning and had to learn all the basics. It was such a connection point for us. It’s weird sometimes when I’m chopping I’ll feel him behind me. I feel his presence, the love.”

While it’s a struggle to balance everything in her life, Paltrow isn’t apologizing for everything good that’s come her way.  She told Popeater, “Everything in my life that’s good is because I worked my ass off to get it and to maintain it.” Whether Paltrow is doing a cleanse or dining out with new pal Morrison (and no, they are not dating), Paltro faces judgement from the peanut gallery.  No matter, Paltrow says. “I think people mistake me trying to be the best version of myself for me telling them you’re not, or they just think well, what does that make me then, you annoying f**king person on the soapbox.”