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 flexibly_convert_to_hash(object, options = {}) 

def flexibly_convert_to_hash(object, options = {})
  if object.method(:to_hash).arity == 0
    object.to_hash
  else
    object.to_hash(options)
  end
end

def to_hash(options = {})

Converts a mash back to a hash (with stringified or symbolized keys) 
def to_hash(options = {})
  out = {}
  keys.each do |k|
    assignment_key = k.to_s
    assignment_key = assignment_key.to_sym if options[:symbolize_keys]
    if self[k].is_a?(Array)
      out[assignment_key] ||= []
      self[k].each do |array_object|
        out[assignment_key] << (Hash === array_object ? flexibly_convert_to_hash(array_object, options) : array_object)
      end
    else
      out[assignment_key] = (Hash === self[k] || self[k].respond_to?(:to_hash)) ? flexibly_convert_to_hash(self[k], options) : self[k]
    end
  end
  out
end

def to_json(*args)

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