Asides

    <?php
/*
 * Template Name: Category based Homepage
 */
?>

<?php get_header(); ?>
<div class="main">

    <?php
    $cat_ID = '4'; //it should be your category ID, you can get the id of the category by going to categories and edit and then in url you can find the tag_ID.
    $posts_to_show = '10'; // number of posts from the category you want to show on homepage
    //query_posts("cat=$cat_ID&showposts=$posts_to_show");
    $category_posts = new WP_Query("cat=$cat_ID&showposts=$posts_to_show");
    //if (have_posts()) 
    if ($category_posts->have_posts())
        : $first = true;
        ?>
        <ul class="post-list">
            <?php
            //while (have_posts()) : the_post();
            while ($category_posts->have_posts()) : $category_posts->the_post();
                if ($first)
                    $class = "first-in-row";
                else
                    $class = "";
                $first = !$first;
                ?>
                <!-- Start: Post -->
                <li <?php post_class($class); ?>>
                    <?php the_post_thumbnail(); ?>
                    <p class="categories"><?php the_category(", "); ?></p>
                    <h2><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>" rel="bookmark" title="Permanent Link to <?php the_title_attribute(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a> <?php edit_post_link(__('Edit', 'your_theme_text_domain'), '', ''); ?></h2>
                    <p class="post-meta"><span class="date"><?php the_time(get_option('date_format')) ?></span> <?php if (comments_open()) : ?>, <span class="comments"><?php comments_popup_link(_x('0', 'comments number', 'your_theme_text_domain'), _x('1', 'comments number', 'your_theme_text_domain'), _x('%', 'comments number', 'your_theme_text_domain')); ?></span> <?php endif; ?> <span class="author"><?php the_author() ?></span></p>
                    <?php the_excerpt(); ?>
                    <p class="more"><a href="<?php the_permalink() ?>"><?php _e('Read More &raquo;&raquo; ', 'your_theme_text_domain'); ?></a></p>
                    <?php if (has_tag()): ?><p class="tags"><span><?php the_tags(""); ?></span></p><?php endif; ?>
                </li>
                <!-- End: Post -->
            <?php endwhile; ?>
        </ul>
    <?php else : ?>
        <h2 class="center"><?php _e('Not found', 'your_theme_text_domain'); ?></h2>
        <p class="center"><?php _e('Sorry, but you are looking for something that isn\'t here.', 'your_theme_text_domain'); ?></p>
    <?php
    endif;
    //wp_reset_query();
    wp_reset_postdata();
    ?>
</div>
<?php get_sidebar(); //optional?>
<?php get_footer(); ?>