class Hashie::Hash

not be available in all libraries.
functions baked in such as stringify_keys that may
A Hashie Hash is simply a Hash that has convenience

def to_hash

Converts a mash back to a hash (with stringified keys) 
def to_hash
  out = {}
  keys.each do |k|
    out[k] = Hashie::Hash === self[k] ? self[k].to_hash : self[k]
  end
  out
end

def to_json(*args)

The C geneartor for the json gem doesn't like mashies 
def to_json(*args)
  to_hash.to_json(*args)
end