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Susana Mijares of The Skeletons, as seen on Halloween Wars, Season 16.<\/p>\n
Kim Raff\/Courtesy of Food Network<\/p>\n
This past summer, Susana Mijares and her husband, Nacho Aguirre, regulars on Food Network reality cooking shows for the last decade, were excited to tune in to the inaugural season of Pitmasters. Fellow San Antonio couple\u00a0Esaul and Grecia Ramos<\/a> were among the competitors.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI think the Food Network has a special chapter in their books for San Antonio contestants,\u201d Mijares told MySA in a recent interview. \u201cWe\u2019re represented really well!\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Mijares, who co-owns D\u00e9lice Chocolatier and Patisserie on San Antonio\u2019s far north central side, with Aguirre, will represent her hometown again, this time on the 16th season of Halloween Wars, which premieres September 13 on the Food Network. Her and her team won season 12<\/a> of the same series in 2022. This time, she is teaming up and competing against other past champions for a shot at $30,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI want to prove to everyone that they can do anything they want if they put their heart and soul into it,\u201d Mijares said. \u201cIt\u2019s a hard task, but I think it’s worth it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Full cast of competitors, as seen on Halloween Wars, Season 16.<\/p>\n Kim Raff\/Courtesy of Food Network<\/p>\n Mijares and Aguirre, who moved to the Alamo City from Torre\u00f3n, Mexico, in 2009, are a major reason San Antonians have received so much screen time on the Food Network. Aguirre won Spring Baking Championship<\/a> in 2018, before returning to the network as a judge on shows like Holiday Baking Championship: Gingerbread Showdown<\/a>, Girl Scout Cookie Championship<\/a>, Candy Land<\/a> and Thanksgiving Pie Fight.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Along with winning Halloween Wars<\/a> four years ago, Mijares competed on Spring Baking Championship, Best Baker in America and Holiday Wars.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI keep coming back because I love it,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s so much stress and so much adrenaline.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Kristina Patenaude, Lily Halabi and Susana Mijares of The Skeletons, as seen on Halloween Wars, Season 16.<\/p>\n Kim Raff\/Courtesy of Food Network<\/p>\n For season 16 of Halloween Wars, Mijares is joining Team Skeletons alongside fellow returning competitors Kristina Patenaude, a professional pumpkin carver from Temple, Texas, and Lily Halabi, a cake artist from Harker Heights, Texas. The all-star trio will vie for another chance at Halloween glory.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cBefore Halloween Wars, I was so scared of making bloody and scary things,\u201d Mijares said. \u201cNow, I have this side of me that I didn’t know I had. You have to be even more prepared this season because you want to prove why you won before.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Aguirre knows why his wife is a champion. He\u2019s her biggest fan. After 32 years of marriage, they still enjoy sharing their kitchen. Mijares said that \u201ccouples who cook together, stay together,\u201d and they\u2019ve proven it to be true. This year, thxeir home kitchen became less crowded after their youngest child went off to college. Now, they\u2019re empty nesters for the first time.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe’re alone in our house with our three cats, and we’ve been enjoying it so much,\u201d Mijares said. \u201cBut every time [our kids] come home or we go visit them, we have sweets for them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Out of their five children, their middle one, Regina, who recently got married (Mijares and Aguirre made her wedding cake<\/a>, of course), recently showed interest in following in her parents\u2019 footsteps in the culinary world. \u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cNow, we know that someone is going to take over the family business one day,\u201d Mijares said. \u201cI keep telling her, \u2018Someday you might be on one of these shows, too.\u2019 We\u2019re teaching her everything we know.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Halloween Wars season 16 premieres Sunday, September 13 at 8 p.m. CT on Food Network and streams the following day on HBO Max.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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