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|
    if self[k].is_a?(Array)
      out[k] ||= []
      self[k].each do |array_object|
        out[k] << (Hash === array_object ? array_object.to_hash : array_object)
      end
    else
      out[k] = Hash === self[k] ? self[k].to_hash : self[k]
    end
  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