Replacing Genesis Featured Posts widget output with custom code

functions.php

//* Function to display space separated (default) category slugs
function the_category_unlinked( $separator = ' ' ) {
	$categories = get_the_category();
	
	$thelist = '';

	foreach( $categories as $category ) { // concatenate
		$thelist .= $separator . $category->category_nicename;
	}
	
	echo $thelist;
}

gistfile1.php

if ( ! empty( $instance['title'] ) )
	echo $args['before_title'] . apply_filters( 'widget_title', $instance['title'], $instance, $this->id_base ) . $args['after_title'];

gistfile2.php

genesis_widget_area( 'home-top', array(
	'before' => '<div class="home-top widget-area">',
	'after'  => '</div>',
) );

gistfile3.php

// WP_Query arguments
$args = array (
	'post_type'              => 'post',
	'category_name'          => 'living-in-place,middle-ages',
	'posts_per_page'         => '1',
);

// The Query
$query = new WP_Query( $args );

// The Loop
if ( $query->have_posts() ) {
	while ( $query->have_posts() ) {
		$query->the_post(); ?>
		
		<div class="home-top">
			<h4 class="home-top-title<?php the_category_unlinked(' '); ?>">
				<?php $category = get_the_category(); ?>	
				<?php echo $category[0]->cat_name; ?>
			</h4>
			<article itemtype="http://schema.org/BlogPosting" itemscope="itemscope">
				<header class="entry-header">
					<h2 class="entry-title"><a href="<?php echo get_permalink(); ?>"><?php echo get_the_title(); ?></a></h2>
					<p class="entry-meta">
						<?php echo do_shortcode("[post_date]"); ?>
						<?php echo do_shortcode("[post_comments]"); ?>
					</p>
				</header>
				<div class="entry-content">
					<?php the_content( '[Read More...]' ); ?>
				</div>
			</article>
		</div>
	
	<?php }
} else {
	// no posts found
}

// Restore original Post Data
wp_reset_postdata();

gistfile4.php

wp_enqueue_style( 'daily-dish-google-fonts', '//fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Alice|Lato:400,700,900', array(), CHILD_THEME_VERSION );

gistfile5.php

wp_enqueue_style( 'daily-dish-google-fonts', '//fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Alice|Lato:400,700,900|Satisfy|Almendra', array(), CHILD_THEME_VERSION );

gistfile6.php

genesis_register_sidebar( array(
	'id'          => 'home-top',
	'name'        => __( 'Home - Top', 'daily-dish' ),
	'description' => __( 'This is the top section of the homepage.', 'daily-dish' ),
) );

style.css

.home-top .entry-content img {
	width: auto;
}

.daily-dish-home .home-top .entry {
	margin-bottom: 0;
}

.home-top-title {
    background-color: #fff;
    border-bottom: 1px solid #9ab45d;
    border-color: #9ab45d;
    border-width: 1px;
    color: #951b18;
    font-size: 72px;
    font-weight: 400;
    letter-spacing: 1px;
    margin-bottom: 30px;
    padding: 2px 15px 12px;
    text-transform: none;
}

.home-top-title.living-in-place {
	font-family: "Satisfy",cursive;
}

.home-top-title.middle-ages {
	font-family: 'Almendra', serif;
}