Board Thread:Wiki-Related Questions and Answers/@comment-72.128.73.89-20130511213952/@comment-5235494-20130810200331

On the official Once Upon A Time website of ABC, it was stated that the Blind Witch herself was the one that created the apple  - a blood-red fruit so forbiddenly sweet that no one would be able to resist it. Somehow, Regina heard word of the apple and (seeing this as a tempting "weapon" to use against Snow White) henceforth sent innocent children to the Witch's house in hopes of retrieving it (only to keep supplying her with breakfast, lunch and dinner). This would explain why Regina said that "the Witch has something of mine. I need it back..." in such a nonchalant way (alluding to her 'I-WILL-have-what-I-desire-and-don't-care-about-anyone-else's-happiness' personality.) In a true Regina fashion, she lied to kids that the apple was her's to begin with, making herself seem more innocent in the situation than she actually was so that the children would help her in the first place. In this way, it is likely that only until Hansel and Gretel retrieved it was Regina able to exhange the Dark Curse with Maleficent for her frenemy's Sleeping Curse, which she used on the apple to make it poisonous opposed to just tempting. As for the crone-witch with stitched eyes from "The Thing You Love Most", no one has found out who she really is. There is, however, several speculations that allude to her being Baba Yaga of Russian folklore.