Photos: Gwyneth Paltrow c/o http://www.whowhatwear.com & http://www.zimbio.com/

She’s got style. She’s got grace. Not just another pretty face, Gwyneth Paltrow has BEAUTY and BRAINS. An Academy Award wining actress (“Shakespeare in Love”), model (Estee Lauder and Tod’s), singer (“Country Strong” and “Glee”), mother of two (Apple and Moses), and now – chef / writer. She’s taken her online newsletter / blog “GOOP” to another level with this month’s release of her first cookbook, “My Father’s Daughter: Delicious, Easy Recipes Celebrating Family & Togetherness”. Gwyn’s love for cooking starting at a young age as shared passion between her and her late father (Producer Bruce Paltrow was the self-proclaimed love of her life until his death in 2002). The proud host of all-organic dinner parties for famous friends included in the book’s dedication such as the Spielbergs, and Faith Hill and Tim McGraw. Her close friend and world-renowned chef, Mario Batali wrote the forward. So how can a foodie stay so long, lean, and… glowing at 38??

The book tells ALL. Gwyneth’s must-have items for your pantry include bragg liquid aminos, King Arthur bread flour, bomba rice and Vegenaise. She’s committed and motivated, but not vigilant and totally extreme – to her passion for healthy eating and delicious cooking. Clearly, it’s working.

On her preference for healthy ingredients: “Could I use some butter and cheese and eggs in my cooking without going down some kind of hippie shame spiral? Yes. Of course I could.”

On hosting a successful dinner: “You just need some good ingredients and a few simple recipes, maybe a couple of jokes or a ‘topic to dissect’ at the table, the way they do at Nora Ephron’s house.”

On breakfast: “Food preferences are easy to contend with — set out a large bowl of granola and have all different fixins on the side — berries, flax meal, yogurt, cow’s milk, soy milk, hemp milk.”

On her favorite savory breakfast: “I first had a version of this at a Japanese monastery during a silent retreat — don’t ask, it’s a long story.”

On zucchini: “When I pass a flowering zucchini plant in a garden, my heart skips a beat.”

On her pizza oven: “We’ve got a wood-burning pizza oven in the garden — a luxury, I know, but it’s one of the best investments I’ve ever made.”

On one of her kids’ favorite dishes: “Oh, how my heart leaps when I see them munching down kale with brown rice.”

On being macrobiotic: “During the strict macrobiotic chapter of my life, I ate miso soup every day for breakfast and sometimes with dinner as well.”

On her kids’ love for broccoli: “Luckily, my children love broccoli, and although we sometimes enter into UN-like negotiations about how many ‘trees’ they need to eat before they can partake of ice cream, it is a vegetable that they tend to embrace.”

Pretty sure I know who’s house I want to go to for dinner – just me, Gwyn, Apple, Moses and Chris.

And ladies and gents – this book makes a great Mother’s Day (May 8th) gift … Mmmm-delicious.